Salwa Eid Naser. This name takes me back to the Youth Olympic Games in 2014, where I was an IOC Young Reporter. I remember standing in the mixed zone, watching the Bahraini youth athlete crossing the finish line in second place and winning the first Youth Olympic medal for Bahrain.

When she finished her race, she bowed, her head to the ground. She was wearing a track body suit which reminded me of Cathy Freeman in Sydney 2000. When she approached the mixed zone, I tried to speak to her in Arabic, but obviously, she didn’t understand, therefore I continued in English. Continue reading →

The 8th edition of the Francophone Games were held in Abidjan, Ivory Costs. This was my third Francophone experience.

The first time it was held in Beirut back in 2009, where we had a two months of training camp at the Lebanese University but one day prior to the competition, I was informed that I couldn’t compete because I was only 15. I made lifetime friends like Manal Tayyar, Aziza Sbeity, Michel Zeinaty, Sara Awaly, Ramzi Naim and all the athletes became more close to one another.

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