Doha: No bronze medal was awarded for the endurance ride team competition at the 12th Arab Games.
The UAE won the gold medal and Oman silver, but no other team had the required three horsemen finish the 120km ride and have their horses pass the vet tests at the end of each of the five stages.
The Qatar and Libya teams both had three riders eliminated, Saudi Arabia had two disqualified, while Bahrain only entered one rider and Morocco only had one finish the epic ride. That meant the organisers were unable to award a bronze medal.
As for the silver, Oman's horsemen should be grateful to their colleague Khatar Al Maamary on Majan after he gave a lesson in strong will and determination.
Al Maamary was only just starting the fifth and final stage about 43 minutes after individual gold medal winner Yousuf Al Beloushi of the UAE had crossed the overall finishing line.
The last 20km stage took Al Beloushi 38min 41sec to finish, while Al Maamary took 1hr 35min 7sec at a speed of 12.62km per hour. But nevertheless he finished the ride and his horse passed the vet tests, meaning he was the third Oman rider to finish, enabling the team to take a valuable silver medal. The last laugh was certainly his.
