A group of 82 UAE athletes will today conclude a three-week camp in Italy, where they trained under the supervision of expert coaches and fitness specialists.
The camp is part of the UAE’s School Olympics programme, which aims to identify and develop talented Emirati athletes and prepare them for success on the international stage and hopefully one day produce Olympic champions.
The students, aged 13 to 14, hail from four disciplines – archery, shooting, athletics and fencing – and were chosen as the standouts from the second edition of the UAE School Olympics programme.
The archery and athletics squads trained at the Centre of Olympic Preparation in Formia, while the shooting and fencing teams spent their training period at the Julio Aonsta Centre.
The students met some renowned athletes and coaches including Rene Felton, the coach of world and Olympic champion hurdler Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic, and Vitaly Petrov, the Ukrainian mastermind behind pole vault greats such as Sergey Bubka and Yelena Isinbayeva.
Petrov said: “Having young athletes in the Olympic Centre, featuring such huge facilities, will have a positive bearing on those youngsters and will pay dividends later.
“I always view a young athlete as an Olympic champion on first consideration. Self-confidence is the most important factor in achieving objectives and goals.”
The camp was held by the UAE National Olympic Committee (NOC) in collaboration with the Italian NOC.
Check the gallery of photos from the training camp in Italy…