UAE athlete Siham Alrasheedy secured the women’s discus F52-57 gold medal during the ongoing 16th Fazza Para Athletics Grand Prix – Dubai 2025 resulting in an emotional moment.
Alrasheedy secured the gold medal at her home ground by throwing the discus 22.96 meters.
Since the Fazza Para Athletics Championships began she has attended every event and earned multiple medals throughout her career. But the 2025 edition was special.
Her family supported her from the new stands at Dubai Club for People of Determination stadium while she competed.
Alrasheedy experienced a proud and emotional moment when her mother and son Abdullah cheered her from the stands.
My family’s cheering motivated me to achieve my gold medal victory today. The start of my season brings me immense joy because it was successful.
Two additional Emirati athletes joined Alrasheedy on the podium alongside Sara Aljneibi, the Rio 2026 Paralympic bronze medallist and Abdalla Almarzooqi bringing UAE’s gold medal count to seven.
Sara Aljneibi earned the host nation’s fifth gold medal by throwing 5.22 meters in the women’s shot put F32/33 final. Thekra Al Kaabi from the UAE secured a fourth-place finish in her event after having previously won gold.
Almarzooqi won gold in the men’s 100 m T71/72 final with a time of 24.65 seconds.
Mohamad Othman maintained his impressive form by winning a bronze medal in the men’s 400m wheelchair T34 final. He reached the finish line at 51.23 seconds.
Among the top names: Swiss champion Marcel Hug showed his extraordinary abilities on the blue Mondo tracks at the Dubai Club for People of Determination. He finished the men’s 800m wheelchair T53/54 timeraces in 1:34.21 to take his third gold medal.
Patricia Eachus from Hug’s country earned her second Fazza championship medal by finishing first in the women’s 800m wheelchair T54 final with a time of 1:50.78.
Athanasios Ghavelas initiated the 2025 season victoriously as a two-time Paralympic champion winning gold in the men’s 100m T11 final. He celebrated his gold medal win but wanted to better his race time in future events after experiencing an 11.43-second finish post-starting race fall. I am aiming for the World Championship event which will be held in New Delhi this year.
The UAE holds third place in the medal standings with 18 total medals and seven gold medals behind Saudi Arabia and India who won eight gold medals each.