Twenty-one years ago this month, Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher made UAE sports history by winning the nation’s first Olympic gold medal. The sharpshooter claimed the top spot in the men’s double trap event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
His return to Dubai was met with a hero’s welcome. Entering through the VIP section of Dubai Airport, he was greeted by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, who was then the Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence. Throngs of fans also turned out to celebrate his historic feat, while messages of congratulations poured in from leaders, sports bodies and supporters across the country and beyond.
“Sheikh Ahmed's success was due to his hard work and determination to bring an Olympic medal to the nation,” said Mohammed Al Khaja, a member of the UAE National Olympic Committee.
In 2012, just months before the London Games, a heart condition forced Sheikh Ahmed into retirement. “The thing that hurt the most is that I stopped just a few months shy of the Olympics,” he told The National at the time.
“If it was my decision to stop, it would not be a big deal, but I am forced. To win a gold medal is both good and bad. Good is you have won a gold. Bad is you won't be so interested in the sport. When I won the Olympics and the world championship, I had everything. There's nothing to work for.”
After retiring, Sheikh Ahmed turned to coaching – not to mentor an Emirati successor, as many expected – but to guide a farmer’s son from England to Olympic glory.
Under his mentorship, Peter Wilson won gold for Great Britain in a tense double trap final at the 2012 Olympics, a finish that tested the nerves of his coach, who had stepped away from competition partly because such moments were too stressful for his health.
Wilson, then the world record holder, called his Dubai-based mentor “the greatest double trap shot of all time”.
