The island has managed to root itself strongly into the sports arena. Thousands of participants and spectators from various nationalities and all walks of life turned out last Tuesday to celebrate the First Bahrain National Sports Day with an array of activities at the Sport Village near the National Stadium in Riffa and in the Northern, Southern, Capital and Muharraq Governorates.
The day-long event was to promote sport and also a healthier lifestyle and was organised by the Bahrain Olympic Committee in cooperation with ministries, government bodies, national sports federations, sports clubs and the four governorates.
Plenty of focus was on the Sport Village, which was the centre of activity, with sports such as Cricket, Kids Athletics talent programmes - Pole Vault, Javelin, Triple Jump medley relay, and hurdles, Crossfit - Bodybuilding, Weightlifting, Calisthenics, a Spartan race, Horse riding - training on how to take care of horses, a Colour Run which was open to both adults and youngsters, along with wheelchair athletes and cyclists.
Activities for all- infusing the spirit to excel
Other activities were Table Tennis, Volleyball, Badminton, Hockey, Sky Diving, Tennis, Sailing and folk games and other other recreation games. Mixed Martial Arts was another popular activity with displays of Jiu Jitsu, Karate, Aikido and Taekwondo, Gymnastics floor exercises displays, a 9-round Chess event, Pooling Sailing Initiation Practice, Tennis, Cycling and plenty of entertainment and recreational family activities.Many other sporting and recreational activities took place at other venues around the Kingdom in the four governorates, which involved all segments of Bahraini society. Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Hisham bin Mohammed Al Jowder gave the starting signal to the 1.7km running race and walkathon – the feature activity of the event at the Sports Village behind the National Stadium in Riffa.
This event was organised in cooperation with the Bahrain Athletics Association’s Bahrain Road Runners, drawing hundreds of participants. Top ranking sports officials attending the event were Southern Governor, BOC board member and Organising Committee chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa, BOC board member and women’s sport committee chairwoman Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant general secretary and BOC general secretary Abdulrahman Askar and senior representatives of ministries, sports federations, clubs and youth centres. The event involved more than 10 ministries, 28 sports federations, national and expatriate sports clubs, youth centres and the four governorates.
