Paris 2024 Paralympics: This UAE shooter is aiming for his third gold medal

Famous UAE paralympic shooter Abdullah Sultan Al Aryani is one of the successful athletes in the Paralympic history and now he has set his target on adding a third gold medal to his collection in Paris Paralympics 2024.

Abdullah is a four time Paralympian who has won 5 medals till now in his field in the past 3 games including 2 golds at the Tokyo 2020 and London 2012 as well as 3 silvers at the Rio Games in 2016. His first games were in Beijing in 2008.

The Paris Paralympics is set to begin on Aug 28 where the shooter is aiming his 3rd gold taking his medals tally to half a dozen. In an interview he said, “I will participate in the 10 metre standing shooting and 50 metre shooting, both in rifle and my goal is to win golds, God willing.”

Al Aryani was a member of the UAE shooting team before he had a car accident in 2001 that led him to switch to Para Shooting. He stated, “Shooting has had a major role in overcoming the accident. When you find out that what has happened has not taken away your ability to do what you love, then you have the ability to continue and forget the pain.”

He said that shooting helps him achieve self fulfilment and it’s a source of pride. His determination has increased over the years and helped him achieve the peaks of his career till now and he has faced challenges with increased support from everyone around him.

On his preparations for the Paris Paralympics he said, “I have been preparing for the games for a long time through local, regional, and international tournaments that are giving me the opportunity to interact with high level players all over the world.”

“Now the event is approaching, I am training regularly and trying to improve my numbers with the help of my coach”, he concluded.