By Tom Degun

Sports Award 1January 7 - International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge was honoured at the prestigious Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Awards, held at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai, along with several National Olympic Committees, including Britain and Qatar.


The awards offer huge financial prizes to winners and Rogge received the International Sports Figure prize for his efforts to enrich the Olympic Movement.

The 70-year-old Belgium is set to step down as IOC President later this year after taking the role in 2001, with his greatest legacy likely to be spearheading the formation of the Youth Olympic Games, which were inaugurated in Singapore in 2010.

The awards also saw the British Olympic Association (BOA) honoured with the International Level prize for its corporate creativity and innovation in preparing and supporting Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

BOA chief executive Andy Hunt and Athletes' Commission chair Sarah Winckless collected the award and cash prize of $250,000 (£155,700/€191,700) on behalf of the National Olympic Committee.

"For the London 2012 Olympic Games, our goal was to make certain Team GB was the best-prepared British Olympic Team ever, with every possible detail planned and delivered prioritising athletes' needs and views in every decision," said Hunt, who was also the team's Chef de Mission at London 2012.

"We hope the results speak for themselves: Team GB was able to deliver the best performance in 100 years while fulfilling our target of more medals from more sports than in a century.

"We are very thankful to have been considered for and honoured with this prestigious Award."

The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) was also honoured with the Arab Foundation award following the hugely successful Arab Games in Doha in 2011 while the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee was recognised in the category: International Sports Foundation achieved success based on values.

The Ukrainian National Olympic Committee, headed by influential IOC Executive Board member Sergey Bubka, took the prize for participating in several projects to promote the values of the Olympic Movement including Year of Sports Champions, The Olympic Corner, The Olympic Book, Promising Olympians, and The Olympic day.

Sports Award 2BOA chief executive Andy Hunt (centre) and Athletes’ Commission chair Sarah Winckless (right) collected the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award in Dubai

Algeria's Tawfiq Makhloufi Younis Ahmed Al Saleh was named the Arab Athlete after he won gold in the men's 1500 metres at the London 2012 Olympics while Palestine's Jibril Mahmoud Mohammed Rajoub was named the Arab Administrator due to his work as President of both the Palestine Olympic Committee and Palestinian Football Association.

Paralympic shooter Abdullah Sultan Hamad Masoud Al Ariany of the UAE took the National Athlete prize after winning gold in London with Hamed Mohammed Ahmed Al Rousy, also of the UEA, picking up the National Referee award, providing a boost to his sport of volleyball.

Othman Al Saad of Saudi Arabia was the Arab Sports Figure after having served as the former secretary general of the Federation of Union Arab National Olympic Committees while Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdul Aziz Al Khalifa of Bahrain was named the Arab Sports Figure that contributed to the enrichment of the women sports, particularly in her role as an Executive Board member of the West Asian Games Federation.

Al Nasr Sports Cultural Club, who play table tennis, were the Local Team and the UAE Wrestling, Judo, Jiu-jitsu and Kick Boxing Federation were the Local Foundation.

Four other promising athletes were awarded.

Steeplechaser Habiba Al Maghrbi of Tunisia and fencer Alaa Eldeen Al Kaseem of Eygpt were named the emerging athletes that achieved tremendous success in the sports field after both won silver at London 2012 while UAE kayaker Al Mur Mohammed Bin Heraiz was named the emerging local athlete that achieved tremendous success in the sports field and discus thrower Najat Al Karaof Morocco the athlete that achieved success in sports within major humanitarian challenges.

"The winners of this year's award truly deserve to be rewarded for their commitment in upholding the principles of sports in reaching out to youths so that we can achieve the greater goals of a healthy and safer society," added Mattar Al Tayer, the chairman of the Award Board of Trustees

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