Crown Prince honours winners of King Abdullah physical fitness award

AMMAN — HRH Crown Prince Hussein on Thursday honoured the winners of the ninth round of the King Abdullah II Award for Physical Fitness, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

More than half-a-million students from 2,542 public, private and military education schools participated in this year’s award.

At the ceremony, held at Al Hussein Youth City, the Crown Prince presented medals to 40 students who came in first and second in the various award activities at the Kingdom level for participants between the ages of 9 and 17. 

He also presented medals to three students with disabilities who were among the top scorers, three education directorates, and nine boys’ and girls’ schools that achieved the best results at the national level, according to Petra.

The ceremony, attended by several members of the Royal family, and senior officials and officers, included physical fitness performances and sports activities, including football, athletics and gymnastics, carried out by participating students.

Established in 2005, the King Abdullah II Award for Physical Fitness is a school-based national initiative that targets young people, who represent one-third of the Jordanian population.

Addressing the attendees, Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat said the award seeks to nurture a generation that enjoys balance, in terms of education, knowledge, conduct and physical fitness, noting that the award is growing to include more and more participants.

Around 19,000 students representing 184 schools participated in the award’s first round, Thneibat said.

The programme seeks to encourage young Jordanians to be more physically active and lead healthier lifestyles.

It promotes physical fitness and healthy lifestyle choices to combat the rising occurrence of lifestyle-related diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as obesity.