Dubai, 15 January 2022: The annual UAE National Day Camel Marathon, organized by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC), came to a very exciting conclusion on Friday, with riders and camels exhibiting their best form in the final race at Dubai Camel Racing Club’s Al Marmoom Race Track.
It was a very tight race from the starting point to the finish line of the 11-kilometre race. But in the end, it was a young 17-old Emirati, Saud Mohammed Al Ahbabi, who came ahead of the pack onboard his camel named ‘Latam’ to win first place.
For his feat, he was awarded the Golden Sword, which was specially designed for this occasion, and also received a financial prize of Dh150,000.
He said: “I’m very happy and proud to win the race, which carries important national traditions. I’m also honoured to raise the ‘Golden Sword’ which is a symbol of excellence in this heritage sport.”
Other winners
Suhail Muhammad Al-Humairi came in second place, riding his camel named ‘Mayas. He was awarded Dh100,000. In third place was Khaled Ali Al-Nuaimi, who received Dh50,000 riding camel called ‘Ghaith’.
A total of 34 participants took part this year’s National Day Camel Marathon, that also had two preliminary races in the past two months to prepare the camel riders for the open competition for all age groups.
Proud of community traditions
HHC CEO Abdullah Hamdan Bin Dalmook expressed his appreciation of the strong participation by the camel riders. He awarded the winners, in the presence of Rashid Al Khasouni, HHC Director of Championships, as well as representatives from Dubai Camel Racing Club, the media and the audience who were came in remarkable numbers to support the contestants.
Bin Dalmook said: “We are very proud of our community traditions and we thank all participants for their efforts to promote of UAE’s heritage sports.”
