Riyadh: The Saudi Games 2022, the largest national sporting event in the history of the Kingdom, kicked off on Thursday.
The Saudi Games is held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, hosted by the capital Riyadh and will continue till November 7.
The women’s 49 kg weightlifting competition recorded the first coronation in the history of the largest national sporting event, as competitors in 45 sports raced with great enthusiasm to snatch the first places and crown their medal tally.
It is noteworthy that on Friday evening, King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh will host the opening ceremony of the largest national Olympic sporting event with a sports march that is the largest in the Kingdom, in addition to the festive artistic performances, and accompanied by fireworks.
Goals of the Saudi Games competitions
As stated by Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Saudi Games in its first edition aims to encourage sports and physical activities across the Kingdom and bolster a new generation of elite athletes.
The tournament will be held in 20 locations across the city of Riyadh making it the largest single-city sporting event in the Middle East. More than 6,000 athletes from around 200 national clubs are expected to participate.
Sports include handball, futsal, judo, wrestling, taekwondo, karate, jiu-jitsu, squash, gymnastics, darts, Muaythai, boxing, bowling, swimming, indoor rowing, table tennis, badminton, triathlon, volleyball, basketball, athletics and weightlifting.
Athletes will also compete in fencing, board skating, paddle, paddle board, chess, camel, equestrian, 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball, sports climbing, bicycles, golf, PUBG Mobile, billiards, tennis, karting, windsurfing, archery, goalball.
People with disabilities will compete in Paralympic table tennis, Paralympic weightlifting, wheelchair basketball, and athletics for people with disabilities.
The winning athletes will be provided with more than SR 200 million. While gold medallists will receive SR1 million, silver medallists and bronze medallists will be awarded SR 3,00,000 and SR 1,00,000 respectively.
