Fahad Al-Deehani (, born October 11, 1966) is a

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

i professional target shooter and officer in the Kuwaiti military. He was born in

Kuwait City Kuwait City (; ) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the emirate, containing Kuwait's Seif Pal ...

Olympic career

Al-Deehani won a bronze medal for the men's double trap shooting event at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and thus he became the first Kuwaiti to ever win an Olympic bronze medal. He won another bronze for the men's

Olympic trap Olympic trap is a shooting sports discipline contested at the Olympic Games and sanctioned by the International Shooting Sport Federation The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is the governing body of Shooting at the Summer Olymp ...

shooting event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, Al-Deehani competed as an " independent Olympic athlete" because Kuwait was banned from the Olympics by the IOC. Al-Deehani called for the resignation of Kuwaiti officials responsible for the IOC ban, but refused to carry the Olympic flag in the 2016 Olympic opening ceremonies. Al-Deehani defeated Italian Marco Innocenti in the gold medal match of the men's double trap, becoming the first independent athlete and Kuwaiti to win a gold medal. He said the medal is the best answer to those who kept the Kuwait flag away from the award ceremonies, and added that everyone was calling him "Fehaid the Kuwaiti"; thus, the medal would carry the name of Kuwait: "I was not representing the Olympic Committee; rather I represented Kuwait." Al-Deehani had retired in the year 2018 after an illustrious career. On 28 August, 2023, he announced in a instagram post that he is returning back to international competitions as per an appeal from the Prime Minister of Kuwait, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah and in response to

homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

's call for return.

Other competitions

In 2014, Al-Deehani won silver in the Asian Games double trap competition.

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people Kuwaiti male sport shooters Olympic shooters for Kuwait Shooters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists as Independent Olympic Participants Olympic bronze medalists for Kuwait Trap and double trap shooters Asian Games medalists in shooting Olympic medalists in shooting Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic shooters as Independent Olympic Participants Shooters at the 1994 Asian Games Shooters at the 1998 Asian Games Shooters at the 2002 Asian Games Shooters at the 2010 Asian Games Shooters at the 2014 Asian Games Sportspeople from Kuwait City Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Kuwait Asian Games silver medalists for Kuwait Asian Games bronze medalists for Kuwait Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games {{Kuwait-sportshooting-bio-stub

Olympic career

Other competitions

See also

References

External links