Emirati cyclist Safia Al Sayegh will represent the UAE in the women's road race at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. At 22, Safia is the first Emirati female cyclist to qualify for the Summer Games and will face a challenging field of 96 cyclists over a 158km course. The UAE has sent a team of 14 athletes, competing in equestrian, judo, athletics, cycling, and swimming disciplines.
In cycling history, American Kristin Armstrong holds the record as the oldest cyclist to win an Olympic medal in the road race, achieving this feat at 43 in the women's individual time trial in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Conversely, Belgian Rik Van Looy is the youngest road cycling Olympic champion, winning gold in the men's team road race at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 at the age of 18 years and 226 days.
Regarding the UAE's other performances, Maha Al Shehhi swam the 200m freestyle in 2:17.17 minutes, finishing 28th overall and setting a new personal record by 20 milliseconds. Yousuf Al Matrooshi clocked 50.39 seconds in the 100m freestyle, placing 44th and breaking his previous record of 50.43 seconds. The equestrian team finished 18th in the team jumping qualifying round with 72 errors and a time of 249.47 seconds, with individual competitions scheduled for Monday at the Palace of Versailles.
Sprinter Maryam Al Farsi finished ninth in the second round of the 100 meters with a personal best of 13.26 seconds. The judo team competed in six weight categories, with notable performances including Aram Gregorian nearly reaching the semifinals in the under 90kg category. Omar Marouf was eliminated in the round of 16 in the over 100kg category due to refereeing errors after defeating the Algerian champion in the round of 32.
