Ayesha Al Balushi believes she can leave the Rio 2016 Olympics with her head held high after she smashed her personal best mark in the 58kg weightlifting competition.

The 24-year-old lifted a total of 162kg to rank seventh in Group B, faltering on her final attempt to lift 94kg for the first time in her career.

“Thank God I feel like I have accomplished my mission at my first Olympics and that I raised the UAE flag and showed that an Emirati woman is capable of achieving great things against all odds,” said Al Balushi, who is the second UAE female weightlifter to compete at the Olympics, following Khadija Mohammed in London 2012.

“I would like send this message to everyone back home and tell them ‘raise your heads high, I am the daughter of the UAE and I am here, at the biggest sporting event in the world.’”

“I hope that I did my country proud and represented it in the best way possible and that I was a positive image for UAE women. The UAE is full of talent that is capable of accomplishing great things and I hope that my participation at the Olympics opens the door for other female athletes and paves the way for them to compete at major events.”

Al Balushi is hoping that the sport would get more attention following her efforts in Rio as she eyes further success in weightlifting.

“I learnt a lot from my Olympic experience, not just from a technical perspective but also from a lifestyle perspective. Mingling with world champions, seeing how they train, how they live their day-to-day live at the Athletes’ Village… all this has given me great motivation for future events and I already have my eyes on the gold medal in the upcoming West Asia Championships,” she added.

“I did my best after a very short preparation camp of just two weeks, so imagine how much better I could have done had I been able to prepare properly. I believe the upcoming period requires more attention from officials as it is absolutely necessary to travel abroad for preparation camps so I can achieve my goals and improve my level.”