Sport
Qatar’s medal surge continues as hosts add 10 gold to dominate GCC Games
Qatar’s gold rush continued at full throttle as the hosts collected 10 more gold medals yesterday, powered by three from swimming and five from the athletics contingent, keeping them comfortably on top of the standings at the GCC Games Doha 2026.
Qatar now sit on 21 gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze for a total of 54 medals, reinforcing their dominance across the multi-sport regional event. Saudi Arabia sit in second place with 14 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze, totalling 37 medals, while Bahrain are third with 8 gold, 10 silver and 5 bronze for a total of 23 medals.
In the pool at the Hamad Aquatic Centre, Qatar’s swimmers once again delivered a commanding performance. Mohamed Mahmoud added another gold to his growing tally after winning the men’s 100m breaststroke final in 1:03.10 seconds. He finished well clear of Bahrain’s Saud Ghali, who clocked 1:05.17, while Saudi Arabia’s Emad Alsibyani took bronze in 1:05.37.
Saadeddin also continued his remarkable run of form, securing his third gold medal of Doha 2026 in style by winning the men’s 200m freestyle. He set a new Games record of 1:49.59, with teammate Ali Tamer Hassan producing a strong swim to claim silver in 1:50.38, completing a Qatari one-two finish. Kuwait’s Saud Alshamroukh took bronze in 1:54.56.
The hosts then extended their dominance in the water with gold in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay. The quartet of Ali Tamer, Mahmoud, Saadeddin and Emil Fuzai combined to produce another Games record time of 7:29.22. Kuwait finished second in 7:45.38, while Bahrain took bronze in 7:49.07.
Qatar also added two silver medals on the day in swimming. Fuzai finished second in the men’s 400m individual medley after clocking 4:32.69, behind Bahrain’s Robert Bonsall, who set a Games record of 4:27.71. Kuwait’s Khaled Alotaibi finished third in 4:37.56.
Tameem Elhamayda secured another silver for the hosts in the men’s 50m butterfly, stopping the clock at 24.58. Bahrain’s Mikhail Arkhangelskiy took gold in 23.80, while Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Alotaibi earned bronze in 24.80.
In bowling, Qatar struck gold in the trios event as Talal al-Marri, Bader al-Sada and Jassim al-Muarikhi delivered a dominant performance, finishing top of the standings with 3,785 points over six rounds.
Saudi Arabia claimed silver through Bandar al-Yaba, Ziyad al-Tuwaireb and Ahmed Abu al-Reesh after accumulating 3,655 points, while Kuwait’s trio of Aseel al-Roumi, Faisal Saleem and Mustafa al-Mousawi settled for bronze with 3,633 points.
Boxing delivered two silver medals for Qatar, with Mohamed Alfagay finishing runner up in the men’s 55kg category after a 1-4 defeat to Saudi Arabia’s Muhannad Majrashi, while Mohammed Dbichi also took silver in the men’s 75kg final following a loss to Bahrain’s Aly Abdalla.