Kuwait City, Kuwait, May 18, 2022: The race lasted less than a minute but it took officials longer to decide the winner in the men’s 100m Butterfly final – the difference between winning and losing, a heartbeat of six-hundredths of a second – at the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Games Kuwait 2022.
It didn’t matter to the fans at the Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammed Aquatics Centre on Wednesday night, May 18, for it was a one-two for Kuwait with Abbas Qali winning the gold medal and Waleed Abdulrazzaq taking the silver.
“We are close friends and before the race I told him it doesn’t matter who wins or loses as long as it is a Kuwait 1-2. Yet I hope he is happy with the silver medal,” said an elated Qali.
Qali won in 54.16 seconds with compatriot Abdulrazzaq settling for the silver with 54.22. In third place, in 55.66, was Qatar’s Mohamed Mohamed.
It has taken a long time coming for Qali, no spring chicken at 29 years. “I never expected to win, but it was too close to call at the end. I was waiting and hoping for the best,” said the PE teacher.
Soon after he received his gold medal in the official poolside ceremony, witnessed by FINA President Husain Al-Musallam, who is also the Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, Qali clambered up into the spectator stands where he was delightedly greeted by his mum and dad.
“It is a proud moment for me. I’m happy to win a gold medal for Kuwait at the Gulf Games, especially in front of my family and home fans,” Qali said.
The second night at poolside was a triumphant march for Kuwaiti swimming as the Kingdom’s swimmers won three of the four finals, including the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
Kuwaiti swimming star Saoud Al-Shamroukh won his second gold of the competition, adding the men’s 800m freestyle to the 1,500m gold he won the night before. Al-Shamroukh outswam the rest of the field to win in eight minutes 38.55 seconds.
It was a duel between the Kuwaiti teenager and Oman’s Issa Al-Adawi, but Al-Shamroukh pulled away in the last two laps to easily win by almost seven seconds with Al-Adawi coming home in 8:45.49. Qatar’s Kareem Salah won the bronze in 9:00.46.
The Kuwait’s men’s 4x100 relay team put the icing on the cake in the final event with an accomplished victory. They took gold in 3:31.02 with Qatar second, 3:35.07, and Oman third in 3:36.15.