A file picture of Qatari gymnast Ahmed Nabil Musa competing at an event in Doha.
It took four years of hard labour for Qatar’s 17-year-old gymnast Ahmed Nabil Musa to win a gold medal at the international level and now the teenager can't wait to add more glory in the future.
The Qatari gymnast, eager to realise his dream of 'being the best', is targetting as many as 10 gold medals in the next five years.
Musa, a student at the world famous Aspire Academy, won his first international gold medal in the horizontal bar event at the Arabian Gymnastics Championships in Tunisia last year.
The Qatari went on to win another gold medal in the rings competition followed by a bronze medal which he won in the floor event.
“My experience at the Arab Junior Gymnastics Championships in Tunisia was great because I won my first gold medal in my favourite discipline. We were there with our senior team and I was able to learn a lot from them during our training camp ahead of the competition,” Musa said in an exclusive chat with The Peninsula yesterday.
Musa graduated from the juniors ranks to compete with the big guns at the 10th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup, held in Doha, where 240 gymnasts representing 33 countries were seen in action at the Aspire Dome last month.
The world class event saw some of the biggest names in gymnastics, including the oldest woman gymnast to ever compete in the Summer Olympics at the Rio Games last year, ageless Uzbek Oksana Chusovitina, Chinese teenager Liu Tingting, Romania's Catalina Ponor and Armenia's Artur Davytan. Hosts, Qatar were represented by Ahmed Al Dayani, Musa and Jenna Al Kiki, competing along with the world class gymnastics stars.
For Musa, who began his gymnastics career at the age of 12, last month's competition was exactly what he needed at this stage of his career.
Next year’s 2018 World Championships in Doha and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is what is on Musa's mind.
The 2016 Arab Gymnastics Champion is currently preparing for next month’s Asian Championships which will be held in Thailand.
“I was part of the Qatari team at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha. However, I didn’t qualify for the finals. It was the first time for me at this level. I finished at the 18th place in the high bar and was placed 23rd in the floor event. It was a very nice feeling to be taking part in the World Cup in Doha,” Musa said.
“Competing against the champions and legends was a very nice thing because you can learn a lot from them since they are professionals. It was a great opportunity to see them action here with us. I made a lot of friends among the competitors, especially from Indonesia, Finland and many from Arab countries,” Musa added.
Doha will host the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup, and the 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2018 next year, and Musa has high hopes in bringing golden glory to Qatar.
“My plan is to work hard and be prepared well ahead of the competitions and do my best," Musa said.
"My goal is to reach the highest all-round rankings and do the best for my country. I have lot of competitions and training camps coming up and I will be able to gain more experience and work towards my dream of competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” the ambitious teenager said with a smile.
Musa considers Japanese artistic gymnast and a seven-time Olympic medalist Kohei Uchimura as his idol.
“Uchimura is my idol and I really admire the way he compete,” said the Qatari gymnast.
