Manama, Bahrain, October 28, 2025: From zero to heroes – that is the story of the United Arab Emirates at the 3rd Asian Youth Games in Bahrain.
The UAE delegation arrived in Manama with the record books showing they hadn’t won a medal in the previous two editions of the Asian Youth Games – Nanjing 2013 and Singapore 2009.
All that has changed in stunning fashion as the Emiratis are among the top-10 in the medal standings, currently placed sixth with a haul of 18 medals including seven golds – three in athletics, two in camel racing, and one each in mixed martial arts and Muay Thai.
UAE Chef de Mission Ahmed Al-Tayeb, who is also the Director of Technical and Sports Affairs at the UAE National Olympic Committee, heaped praise on the national sports federations across the Emirates for this dramatic change in fortunes.
“The UAE sports federations have hit the nail on the head and started preparing a new generation of athletes, and the achievements are evident here in Bahrain,” Al-Tayeb noted.
“The results came through good preparation and sound testing, taking into account all the expertise in the UAE and the human resources available, Now everyone is beginning to understand how we can achieve a transformation in sports through these resources,” Al-Tayeb added.
UAE have sent a large athlete squad totalling 152 – 107 boys and 45 girls. The star that has shone bright so far is Arwa Ashar, the fastest girl in Asia, winning the 100m gold, silver in the 200m and anchoring the 400m relay team to gold. Her teammate Aisha Tariq took the 400m gold.
Overjoyed with these results, Al-Tayeb says: “Now we need to invest more in infrastructure and expertise, and we need the support of the Ministry of Sports. There are no limits in sports, and we must continue to work and progress.
“I hope there will be support for sports in which we can achieve good results in the future like swimming, athletics, judo and show jumping. Our goal was to involve the largest possible number of young athletes in these Games. Now it is possible that we will finish as the top Arab country in the medal standings.”
