Ali Radi Arshid of Qatar and Sara Hamdi Masoud of Qatar lead their contingent during the opening ceremony. (Reuters)
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Sara Masoud and Ali Arshad lead the Qatar contingent during the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games at the Place de la Concorde in Paris on Wednesday. Sara and Arshad are the only two athletes representing Qatar at the Games. Sara will compete in women’s shot put while Ali will take part in the 100m and 800m wheelchair races. The Qatari delegation is headed by Dr Hassan al-Ansari, Secretary-General of the Qatar Paralympic Committee. It also includes Arshad’s coach Nabil al-Musalmani, Sara’s coach Walid Maghmoul, physiotherapist Anis Boughmoura and technical expert Mohamed Suhail. Arshad was thrilled to carry Qatar’s flag during the opening ceremony. He said: “I feel extremely happy to carry my country’s flag in the opening ceremony, as it is a historic moment for any athlete to carry his country’s flag in this major sporting event.” Sara, meanwhile, thanked the officials of the Qatari Federation for Special Needs for choosing her to carry the flag. The Rio 2016 Games silver medallist said she will do everything in her power to win another medal for Qatar.