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AMMAN — A single athlete made history for Jordan after winning its first ever Olympic medal and entering Olympic history early Friday morning at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Enthusiasts who were following up the taekwondo competition were elated that a medal was within reach. However, Jordan woke up to the news that not only had Jordan won its first ever Olympic medal, but it was a gold that placed the Kingdom on the medal table among the top 50 of over 200 nations competing.

The honour was made possible by Ahmad Abu Ghaush, a 20-year old who came in top spot in taekwondo’s -68 kilogramme category. 

“I can’t believe it,” said Abu Ghaush told the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) News Service. “I dedicate this medal to His Majesty King Abdullah II and all the people of Jordan. This is for you”.

“I faced a very hard draw and had to beat the World and Olympic champions along the way. I am so pleased with everything. I want to thank my coach Faris Al Assaf who has been with me all the way on this journey. He is like a brother. To make history for Jordan is something special. I want all of Jordan to celebrate this medal.”

The 10th seed started off by beating Egypt’s Ghofran Ahmad 9-1 before defeating 2012 Olympic silver medallist No. 2 seed Lee Dae-hoon of South Korea 11-8. He then faced Spain’s Joel González wining 12-7 in the semis before beating 2012 bronze medallist top ranked Russia’s Alexey Denisenko 10-6 to win the gold.

Abu Ghaush was congratulated by Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania, HRH Crown Prince Hussein and JOC President HRH Prince Feisal, as Jordanians celebrated the gold medal back home awaiting the champ’s return, calling for proper recognition and appreciation of his achievement and extensively sharing posts of his bout and medal ceremony on social media.

Ever since first participating in the 1980 Olympics, Jordan’s national anthem was played only once before when Maha Barghouti won a gold medal in wheelchair table tennis at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000. 

“It’s an indescribable feeling to win the first medal in the history of Jordan in all the sports,” Abu Ghaush, who was knocked out in the second round of the world championships last year, told Reuters.

“It’s also a great feeling to listen to the national anthem of Jordan being played in Rio in front of the whole world.”

The 2012 World Youth champion had advanced to the 2016 Olympics after he won the 2016 Asian Qualification Tournament. The youngest competitor in his weight was also the first taekwondo athlete in the Arab world to win gold. He was 2012 World Junior Champion, 2012 Asian Junior Champion and 2016 Asian Olympic qualifying gold medallist.

While it was the first official medal for Jordan in the past there were significant achievements in the game like 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.

The Olympic taekwondo competition in Rio’s Olympic Park saw two of the most anticipated weight categories contested, with sporting history written twice. After taekwondo delivered Jordan its first ever Olympic medal, it also gave Iran its first ever female Olympic medal in any sport.

Abu Ghaush, a student pursuing a sports science degree at the University of Jordan, has instantly become a household name in Jordan and he is an athlete to watch. He underwent extensive training for Rio and attended the “Booyoung Dream Programme” in Korea in July which was sponsored by the World Taekwondo Federation for teams with limited financial means. The programme offered intensive taekwondo training in the run-up to Rio 2016 and now appears to have paid a very historic dividend for the athlete and his country.

“I believe this can be a real game changer for sport as a whole for Jordan. We have been searching for a real star for a long time that young people can aspire to be and Ahmad is that person,” Team Jordan spokesman David Williams, who is the JOC communications and marketing director, told The Jordan Times.

“A wonderful character who can really inspire a new generation of Jordanian sportsmen and women. The pride of Jordan,” he added.

Abu Ghaush’s medal was only the second gold medal for Arab countries in Rio where Bahrain, Algeria, Qatar, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, the UAE and Jordan until now have won a total of 13 medals combined. 

As with most Arab athletes who have settled for the idea of symbolic participation at the Games, Jordan’s contingent included some athletes qualifying to the Games while others received IOC invitations which respect the principle of universal representation.

Jordan entered two boxers into the Olympic boxing tournament. Super heavyweight boxer Hussein Ishaish lost in the quarter-finals. The 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist had claimed his Olympic spot with a box-off victory at the 2016 Asia and Oceania Qualification Tournament. Teammate Obada Al Kesbeh who was out in the first round received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to compete in the men’s light welterweight division. He was 2013 Asian Silver medallist and 2014 Asian Games Bronze medallist.

Jordan has qualified one judoka but did not get past the preliminary round for the men’s middleweight 90kg category in the nation’s Olympic debut in the sport. Ibrahim Khalaf earned a continental quota spot from the Asian region, as the highest-ranked Jordanian judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List. He was 2016 Asian Bronze, 2013 Arab Championship Silver, 2003 Arab Youth Champion.

Jordan received a universality invitation from International Swimming Federation to send two swimmers to the Olympics. Khader Baqlah and sibling Talita bettered their personal times and departed early in the men’s 200 and women’s 50 metres respectively.

Lawrence Fanous was awarded a tripartite commission invitation for the men’s triathlon where he finished 46th marking the country’s debut in the sport. He was 7th at Asian Games 2014. Teammate Mithqal Abu Drais was set on Sunday to compete in his second Olympic marathon.

It was the 10th time for Jordan at the Olympics Games where over 10,000 athletes from 204 countries competed in Rio which comes to an end on Sunday with the closing ceremony. 

The 2020 Games will be held in Tokyo, Japan.

AMMAN — Jordan’s national football team started its series of friendlies on the weekend as they start preparations for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers kicking off in March 2017.

Jordan played its Qatari counterpart in Switzerland losing 3-2 in the first of seven friendlies set for the squad. After putting behind elimination from 2018 World Cup qualifiers, national team coach Abdullah Abu Zam’eh, has recalled mainly younger players including Olympic team players.

“We aim to have the biggest number of friendlies possible which will help team cohesion and preparedness ahead of the final phase of the qualifiers, “ Abu Zam’eh was quoted as saying on the Jordan Football Association website.

Jordan went up to 79th in the latest FIFA Rankings and is now 9th in Asia behind Iran, South Korea, Japan, Uzbekistan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and China. Jordan last played at the King’s Cup, an international football tournament organised in Thailand where they lost to the hosts in the final. Last year, Jordan failed to advance past the quarters of the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in 2015. 

The team is now trying to get back its competitive edge after Jordan was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup after a dismal 5-1 defeat to Australia. The qualifying journey ended in Round 1 after an inconsistent year that saw the national team lose 1-0 to Kyrgyzstan 3-0 to Tajikistan and scoring an 8-0 win over Bangladesh in Leg 2. In Leg 1, Jordan was held to a disappointing 0-0 draw with Kyrgyzstan, beat Tajikistan 3-1, Australia 2-0 and Bangladesh 4-0. 

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + one slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup. 

The Kingdom had the most memorable World Cup qualifying journey in 2013 when it lost a possible chance to play at the World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie for a place in the 2014 World Cup. It lost the home game 5-0 and held the former World Cup champs 0-0 in the away match. Jordan had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in the qualifiers as of 1985. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers since 1986.

In the Asian Cup, Jordan reached the Championship three times since first taking part in qualifiers in 1972. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when it lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA Ranking of 37th in August 2004. In 2011, Jordan again reached the quarter-finals.

AMMAN — Jordan player Ahmad Abu Ghaush won gold in the taekwondo -68kg event on Friday, the first Olympic medal for Jordan.

He beat Russia’s Alexey Dinisenko 10-6, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee.

The 20-year-old student, the youngest competitor in the division, had qualified to the final late Thursday after beating Spain’s 2012 London gold medallist Joel Gonzalez 12-7.

On the same day, Abu Ghaush beat world champion Daehoon Lee, according to the Rio Olympics' official website.

He beat the South Korean 11-8.

In his opening match earlier on Thursday Abu Ghaush took on Egypt’s Ghofran Ahmed in Carioca Arena 3, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Abu Ghaush, the youngest in the division at just 20, had beaten the Egyptian in their previous three meetings, and kept that streak going with a 9-1 victory over the 23-year-old.

“I am thrilled to have got off to a winning start,” said the Amman-based student.

He fought against the far taller opponent and opened his account with a head kick right on the first round buzzer to take a 3-0 lead.

The Jordanian continued his strong performance through the remaining two rounds to cruise through to victory. 

AMMAN — Jordan player Ahmad Abu Ghaush qualified to the finals of the Olympic taekwondo -68kg competition late Thursday after beating Spaniard Joel Gonzalez Bonilla.

Abu Ghaush won 12-7, and is now closer to the chance to win gold.

His win guarantees Jordan its first ever Olympic medal.

On the same day, Abu Ghaush beat world champion Daehoon Lee, according to the Rio Olympics' official website.

He beat the South Korean 11-8.

In his opening match earlier on Thursday Abu Ghaush took on Egypt’s Ghofran Ahmed in Carioca Arena 3, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Abu Ghaush, the youngest in the division at just 20, had beaten the Egyptian in their previous three meetings, and kept that streak going with a 9-1 victory over the 23-year-old.

“I am thrilled to have got off to a winning start,” said the Amman-based student.

He fought against the far taller opponent and opened his account with a head kick right on the first round buzzer to take a 3-0 lead.

The Jordanian continued his strong performance through the remaining two rounds to cruise through to victory. 

AMMAN — Jordan player Ahmad Abu Ghaush qualified to the semi-finals of the Olympic taekwondo -68kg competition after beating world champion Daehoon Lee on Thursday, according to the Rio Olympics' official website.

Abu Ghaush beat the South Korean 11-8.

In his opening match earlier on Thursday Abu Ghaush took on Egypt’s Ghofran Ahmed in Carioca Arena 3, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service. 

Abu Ghaush, the youngest in the division at just 20, had beaten the Egyptian in their previous three meetings, and kept that streak going with a 9-1 victory over the 23-year-old. 

“I am thrilled to have got off to a winning start,” said the Amman-based student. 

“I will focus on my next fight now which will be another tough opponent.” 

He fought against the far taller opponent and opened his account with a head kick right on the first round buzzer to take a 3-0 lead. 

The Jordanian continued his strong performance through the remaining two rounds to cruise through to victory. 

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-23 football team is readying to host its Iraqi counterpart in two matches this week as part of preparations for the Asian qualifiers for the third edition of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship which will be held in 2018.

Jordan will play Iraq on August 21 and 25 and is set to take on Lebanon on September 21 as they begin a series of training camps and friendlies ahead of the qualifiers that will be held next summer and will group 42 nations divided into 10 groups with 16 making it to the finals.

Earlier this year, the Kingdom was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the last U-23 championship held in Qatar. Jordan failed to make it to the top four and a possible Olympic slot with the continents top three advancing to the Olympic Games football tournament currently under way in Rio de Janeiro.

In the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship in 2014 (now renamed the AFC U-23 Championship), Jordan took third place when they beat South Korea while Iraq won the title after defeating Saudi Arabia.

In 2015, Jordan’s U-23 squad was eliminated from the 1st West Asian Championship and in 2014 the line-up represented Jordan at the Asian Games where they made to the quarterfinals.

On the other hand, the women’s national team has also regrouped to start preparations for qualifiers starting in April 2017 for 2018 AFC Women’s Championship.

The team, which went up a spot to 54th in the latest FIFA rankings, is now training twice a week for now as the coaching staff is busy with the final phase of preparations for the U-17 Women’s World Cup kicking off September 30.

The women’s U-19 national team also has Asian Group A qualifiers for the 2017 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship. The draw put Jordan alongside Australia, Singapore and Lebanon and the Northern Mariana Islands. The top team from each group in the qualifiers set for October 29 moves to the final championship in 2017.

Jordan was also drawn in Group A in the U-16 qualifiers set for August 27 where they will play alongside Thailand, Myanmar, Guam, Laos and Pakistan with the top team advancing to the championship.

For the past decade, Jordan’s teams have been competing in all age divisions in the Asian zone. In 2014, the team was eliminated from Group A qualifiers for the 2015 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship after qualifying as the only Arab team in 2007. The U-16 girls team also failed to qualify to the 2015 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship after qualifying in 2013. In 2015, the women’s national team also exited the 2015 AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a winless record.

In men’s competitions, the U-16 boys, and U-19 youth were eliminated from their respective latest Asian qualifiers. The Kingdom had earlier qualified to the AFC U-19 Championship four times. In 2006, the team scored the country’s biggest sporting success when they qualified to the 2007 FIFA Youth World Cup after reaching the semis and eventually finishing fourth at the Asian U-19 Championship. They exited the group stages in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. Jordan failed to qualify in 2014 when they exited Group B qualifiers in Amman.

AMMAN — Jordan triathlete Lawrence Fanous didn’t quite make it into the top 30 as he targeted, but nevertheless made history on Thursday by becoming the first Jordanian to compete at an Olympic triathlon, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The 30-year-old finished the gruelling race in a time of 1:55.05 for 46th place, just over 10 minutes behind Team GB gold medallist Alistair Brownlee.

“Hopefully this is the start of something big for triathlon in Jordan,” said Fanous. “I am the first, but by competing I hope this has opened the door for more Jordanian triathletes to compete at the Olympics in the future.”

Fanous was 41st coming out of the swim, but slipped back a few places after the bike to eventually finish the race 46th from 56 athletes after the run.

AMMAN — Jordan taekwondo star Ahmad Abu Ghaush has said that the performance of his boxing teammate Hussein Ishaiash on Tuesday has inspired him ahead of his -68kg competition on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The 20-year-old student is among the 16 best fighters in the world to battle it out for glory and he will begin his campaign against Egypt’s Ghofran Ahmed, 23, who he has beaten in their last three meetings.

“I watched Hussein’s performance and it has really inspired me,” said Abu Ghaush, who is the youngest in the competition. “He faced the world champion and yet he took the fight to him and showed tremendous courage. I hope to do the same.

“I have a very tough first match. I have faced him three times and won all three but only by a single point on each occasion, the last time was about four months ago.”

Abu Ghaush is also in the same side of the draw as Korean world champion Daehoon Lee so the road to the medal matches is very tough.

“I am just focussing on my first fight,” he said. “It is unwise to plan ahead as the next fight is the only one that matters right now.

“I have trained hard since arriving in Rio and I feel in good shape so I am asking for Jordan to get behind me and pray for me. I will be doing my best for my country.”

Abu Ghaush qualified for the Olympics by winning the Asian round of qualifiers and has spent time in Europe and Asia on camps in preparation for Thursday.

Ghofran can speak three languages — English, Arabic and Italian — and weighs in around the same weight as Abu Ghaush but can boast a 14cm height advantage. He secured a spot for the 2016 Olympic Games by winning the 2016 African Olympic Qualification Tournament in Agadir, Morocco.

AMMAN — Triathlete Lawrence Fanous is carrying the Jordan flag into the Olympic triathlon for the first time on Thursday, and he believes that “anything can happen”.

Based in the Copacabana Beach area, the triathlon is one of the Olympics most demanding events, with a swim, cycle and run putting the world’s best to the test, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

And for 30-year-old Fanous it is a dream come true, and he remembers when he caught the Olympic “bug” watching the triathlon at the Sydney Games on television in 2000.

“I watched the event with my triathlon club, I was only 15 but I remember thinking one day I want to do that at an Olympics, and here I am,” said Fanous, who was born and spent his early years in Amman before his family moved to England where he now lives and trains.

“I also went out to watch the Olympics in Athens and I guess that just fuelled the fire further. It is a dream come true competing here in Rio de Janeiro and I can’t wait for it to start.”

Fanous has spent the past week in Miami focussing on the race and has set a realistic target of a top 30 finish, and an ambitious dream of gate crashing the top 15.

“My best finish in a World Series event is 35th so to beat that here would be an achievement,” he said. “I am a bit of a late bloomer in the sport and only started doing the top end stuff in the World Series in 2013. But I am not here to make up the numbers, I want to make a statement and finish well to put Jordan on the triathlon map.”

Fanous spent much of Tuesday and Wednesday testing the course and said the water, which has come under fire because of its pollution levels, “should be OK providing it doesn’t rain”.

“It is about 21 degrees so warm enough to swim without a wet suit which will help. Generally, though, I feel OK and have been training well and without injury for some time now. The waiting is the worst bit so I am just keen for the race to start now.”

The triathlon is expected to start around 5pm Jordanian time and Fanous is aiming for a finish of around 1 hour and 55 minutes.

AMMAN — Jordan boxer Hussein Ishaiash on Tuesday missed out on an historic semifinal spot at the Olympic Games after losing to French World Champion Tony Yoka, in Rio de Janeiro, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Ishaiash, 21, is 20cm shorter and 10kg lighter in weight than the enormous Frenchman who towered over him and put on a strong and measured display.

Despite Ishaiash’s huge heart and courage, it was the Yoka’s power and style that won the judges’ verdict who gave the Frenchman a unanimous decision.

“I did my best for Jordan and all Jordanians,” said a disappointed Ishaiash.

“I was the underdog but I gave everything I had. He is a world champion so to it was always going to be difficult. He is a great champion and I wish him well. I am exhausted mentally and physically. I really threw everything I could into that fight. I am still young and learning all the time. I will be back for Tokyo 2020 with more experience.”

Next up for the Kingdom will be taekwondo and the triathlon on Thursday.