Jordan joins the World at 2024 Paris Olympic Games

AMMAN — The 2024 Olympic Games officially opened in Paris, France on Friday with over 10,000 athletes from 200 nations taking part, marking the 12th time for Jordan at the Olympics.

The 2024 Summer Olympics will run up to August 11 with Paris as the main host city, and events held at 16 other cities spread across France. It will be the second time in history that the opening of the Olympic Games will be held outside a stadium, with the parade of nations planned as a boat parade along the River Seine with the route featuring the cultural elements and views of Paris landmarks

The Games will feature 329 events in 32 sports, with four optional sports that were proposed by the Paris Organising Committee: Breakdancing will make its Olympic debut, while skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing will return from 2020.

As with many athletes who settle for symbolic participation at the Games, Jordan’s contingent includes a combination of athletes qualifying through competitions, while non-qualifying athletes take part based on the “quota” or wild card system which aims at making sure countries from all corners of the globe are present.

The Kingdom will compete in 6 sports with a total of 9 qualifying athletes out of the 12 member team: A record 4 qualifiers in Taekwondo (Olympian silver medalist Saleh Sharabati, Juliana Al Sadeq, Rama Abul Rub, Zaid Mustafa), 3 in boxing (Hussein and Ziyad Ishaish, Obada Al Kasbeh), gymnast Ahmad Abu Saoud, table tennis player Zaid Abu Yamen, as well as three wild card participants swimmer Amr Wirr and Karen Bilbeisi, and marathon runner Muath Khawaldeh.

Since first participating at the 1980 Olympics, Jordan earned a spot on the medals table of the world’s biggest sporting competition only at the past two Olympic Games.

The 2016 Rio Games went down in Jordanian sporting history when then 20-year old Ahmad Abu Ghaush, the youngest competitor in taekwondo’s 68 kilogramme weight class also became the first taekwondo athlete in the Arab world to win gold and Jordan’s first ever Olympic medal. He was 2012 World Junior Champion, 2012 Asian Junior Champion and 2016 Asian Olympic qualifying gold medalist.

Following Rio, the Tokyo 2020 Games, which was postponed by the COVID19 Pandemic to 2021, saw Jordan win a silver and bronze medal with a record 10 of the 14 Jordanian athletes qualifying through competition. Saleh Sharabati became a new national hero winning a silver in taekwondo following in the footsteps of teammate Abu Ghaush. A second medal was secured by Abdul Rahman Masatfeh who clinched a bronze as Karate made its Olympic debut.

Earlier, there were three bronze medals at the 1988 Seoul Games by Samer Kamal and Ihsan Abu Sheikha, and at the 1992 Barcelona Games by Ammar Fahed. However, taekwondo was still considered an “exhibition sport” at the time.

Until 2000, table tennis was the only game whose athletes qualified through competition, through players Jacqueline Duqum (Seoul 1988), Nadia Rashad (Barcelona 1992) and Tatiana Najjar (Sydney 2000). Taekwondo and boxing followed soon after. In 2004, Zeina Sha’ban (table tennis), Ibrahim Bisharat (equestrian) , Nadine Dawani and Ibrahim Aqil (taekwondo) qualified to the Athens Olympics.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Dawani, Bisharat and Sha’ban again qualified. In 2012, Jordan had Mohammad Abu Libbeh, Dawani and Raya Hatahet qualifying (taekwondo), Bisharat (equestrian) and Ihab Al Matbouli (boxing). In 2016, it was Abu Ghaush (taekwondo) and Hussein Ishaish (boxing). In 2020, the 10 qualifiers included veteran Bisharat, competing at his fourth Olympics; five boxers (Ziyad and Hussein Ishaish, Ali Hindawi, Mohammad Wadi and Obada Al Kasbeh); Saleh Sharabati and Juliana Sadeq (taekwondo), Younes Salman (judo); Abdul Rahman Masatfeh (karate).

On the Olympic scene, Jordan’s national anthem was played for the first time when the late Maha Barghouti won a gold medal in wheelchair table tennis at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000. At the 2020 Paralympic Games, Jordan added four more golds: 3 by Omar Karadeh, Abdul Karim Khattab and Jamil Shibli (power lifting), and Ahmad Hindi (athletics).

Since 1984, Jordan has won a total of 17 medals at the Paralympics (5 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze).