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MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha: A new chapter in Qatar's sporting journey has been launched today at a gathering of Qatar's entire sporting family.
President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani united with Qatar's sporting heroes at Qatar National Convention Centre to unveil a transformational vision to take sport in Qatar to even greater levels of success through a new brand and strategy.
This milestone moment also sees the launch of a new Team Qatar website, the first-ever Team Qatar Club and re-designed Team Qatar social media channels.
Commenting on the new brand and strategy, Sheikh Joaan said: 'Sport showcases the very best of humanity and it inspires humanity to give the very best version of itself. It provides hope, opportunity and unity. This is why I love sport so much, and why I am so excited about today's launch of the QOC's new brand and strategy. We are an ambitious and optimistic nation and like every successful athlete, we are determined to continue to better ourselves, push our boundaries, breakdown barriers and re-define sporting greatness.
Team Qatar's most successful athletes, including high jump World Champion Mutaz Barshim, Olympic show jumping finalist, Sheikh Ali Al Thani, Paralympic silver medallist, Abdulrahman Abdelqader, Asian shooting medallist, Khulood Al Khalaf, and Qatar's first female to compete in two Olympics, Nada Arakji, joined Qatar's future sporting stars in unveiling QOC's new logo to the world.
The logo builds on Qatar's sporting heritage and patriotic roots by combining the national flag and shield as a symbol of pride, whilst looking to the future with a contemporary, adaptable and innovative design, which is able to adopt multiple forms across modern and traditional platforms.
Explaining more about the story of the brand, Sheikh Joaan said: 'Our new brand will reflect the values of our nation, and the values of sport. Like Qatar, it is young, bold, passionate and dynamic. It shares our nation's ambition, our optimism and our pride in the strength and ability of our people. It is a brand for our future and one that we hope will inspire, empower and educate our young people through the transformational power of sport. We hope that it will inspire future champions in sport and for sport.
The roll out of the new brand will focus on raising awareness of Qatar's athletes, building their fan bases and creating a compelling connection between Team Qatar and the community, in order to encourage increased sports participation at every level - not just as champion athletes, but at school, with family, at clubs - or as coaches, officials, volunteers, administrators and more.
To help achieve this ambition, the QOC has also today launched the ‘Team Qatar Club', a new online sporting community. The digital fan club will feature as a private, members-only area on the new Team Qatar website and will provide exclusive and behind the scenes content about the incredible journeys of Qatar's athletes together with tips, advice, competitions, offers and much more. Joining the fan club is quick and easy and users can sign up using existing social media handles or an e-mail address here. Commenting on the launch of the Team Qatar Club, Qatar's high jump World Champion and double Olympic medallist, Barshim said: 'I urge all my friends to join me in becoming a member of the Team Qatar Club! This will be the place to go for everything you need to know about our athletes and sport in Qatar, get health and fitness tips from the best, and connect with other sports fans! I can't wait share my stories, get closer to our sporting community and show the fun, exciting and human-side to sport.
Information about the QOC's overall new strategy for sport in Qatar was also unveiled today, following a three-year process to develop world-class structures, processes and performance measures that will ensure that Qatar is achieving optimal sporting success on multiple levels. For the first time, the QOC's strategy incorporates the work of its National Federations to ensure a unified approach to delivering the key objectives of creating a more active society, improving sporting performance and being a leader in promoting and progressing the Olympic Movement.
More details about the QOC's strategy can be seen in this film.
Following the launch ceremony, QOC hosted its annual Sport Excellence Awards, recognising and celebrating the athletes, organisations and individuals who have played a significant role in achieving sporting excellence for Qatar over the past year.
Key awardees included Mutaz Barshim, who won Male Athlete of the Year following his gold medal at the 2017 World Athletics Championships, Sara Al Manaei, who won Female Athlete of the Season, following her two gold medals in last year's Junior Arab Athletics Championships, and Ahmed Ali Al-Ansari, who won the Service to Sport Award for his huge contribution to the development of youth sport in Qatar.
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