Eight athletes to represent Jordan in Rio Olympics — ambassador

AMMAN — Eight Jordanian athletes will represent the Kingdom in the Rio Olympics in August in several sports, Brazil’s Ambassador to Jordan Francisco Carlos Soares Luz said on Wednesday.

Two swimmers, two boxers, a taekwondo athlete, a tri-athlete, a judo player and a wrestler will represent Jordan in Rio, the ambassador said at a press conference at the Brazilian embassy in Amman.

Khader Baqleh, 17, was the first to qualify, the ambassador said, noting that the swimmer participated in the embassy’s “100 days to the Olympics event”. 

“Despite all the challenges, I hope we will be delivering very good Olympic Games. We are nine days [away] from the Olympics now, 115 delegations are already there, 105 other delegations are [yet] to arrive,” Luz said.

Around 11,000 people are expected to stay in the Olympic Village, including visitors and team members, the ambassador added, noting that the Opening Ceremony is on August 5 and the games close on August 21. 

The Olympic Games will host athletes from around the world, with the biggest team coming from Egypt, followed by Morocco.

“For the first time in the history of the Olympics, there will be a team for Syrian refugees…. We have a refugee team, some of them have been training in Brazil as they took refuge there,” the ambassador said. 

From the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC), Marketing and Communications Director David Williams said that Jordan’s limited budget for sports did not hinder the young athletes from participating in the Olympics.

“In Jordan, we don’t have the lavish sports budgets of many countries, so it is an achievement in itself to have eight athletes competing in Rio across six sports,” he told The Jordan Times.

He said the committee is running campaigns on social media networks to introduce Jordanians to the athletes representing their country.

Williams added: “The only expectations we place on them are to try their very best and to be excellent ambassadors for Jordan on what is the greatest show on earth. We wish them all well.”

Taekwondo ace Ahmad Abu Ghaush, boxers Hussein Ishaiash and Obada Al Kasbah, judo player Ibrahim Khalaf and triathlete Lawrence Fanous are on Jordan’s team for the Olympics, according to the JOC News Service, which said that brother and sister Khader and Talita Baqleh would represent Jordan in swimming.

As for Jordan’s U-17 Women’s World Cup, the ambassador said the Brazilian team would arrive to Amman early to practise and participate in friendly matches with the Jordanian team.

“They are going to play in friendly matches with Jordan, and they are excited because this is the first time they are coming to the Middle East,” the ambassador said.

“There [is] a big potential for cooperation between Jordan and Brazil, especially in football. I hope the exchanges with our athletes and managers in Rio will enhance this possibility in sports like boxing, volleyball, beach and indoor soccer games,” he told The Jordan Times.