Thus, Aldeehani was competing under the International Olympic Committee flag, which flew above his gold medal position on the podium after Wednesday’s event.
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Fehaid Al-Deehani is a Kuwaiti athlete competing under the Olympic flag this year, as his country’s NOC is suspended due to government interference.
São Paulo – Kuwait’s Fehaid Aldeehani won the gold medal in the double trap category of Olympic shooting event this Wednesday (10) in Rio de Janeiro.
Deehani won bronze in double trap in Sydney 2000, when he became the first Kuwaiti of any sport to win a medal at the Olympic Games.
Al Deehani, an officer in the Kuwait army, raised his arms in triumph after hitting the final two targets, then turned and pounded his chest at the crowd.
Al-Deehani turned down an offer from the International Olympic Committee to carry the neutral’s flag at last Friday’s opening ceremony.
Scott shot a ideal 30/30 score to secure third place as well as Britain’s second shooting medal following Ed Ling’s trap bronze on day three.
He was asked to carry the flag for the Independent Olympic Athletes during the opening ceremony but refused, saying, “I am a military man and I will only carry the Kuwait flag”.
It was a less-than-celebratory affair for Willett, who was favoured to win a medal.
Al-Deehani led the semifinal the whole way, and when he made the gold medal match while the rest of the field was still to be determined, his celebration caused a distraction. Those are the only two ever Olympic medals won by a Kuwaiti athlete, and he’s now made some more history at age 50 as the first-ever gold medalist for the Independent Olympic Athletes.
In order to get to the bronze medal match, they both needed to get by the number one ranked James Willett of Australia in a sudden death shoot off.
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“I missed out on the medals but I’ll take it home and work on it for Tokyo”.
