Doha: Rising track star and para-athlete, Giusy Versace, yesterday pledged her full support to the ‘Save the Dream’ initiative marking the start of a four-day visit to raise awareness of disability sport in Qatar.
Speaking yesterday at a special presentation at the ICSS headquarters in Doha, Versace, a former European record holder in the 100m (T43 category), endorsed the initiative, highlighting the importance of sport for young people and how similar programmes can encourage young people to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.
She said: “Following my accident in 2005, sport gave me the opportunity to rebuild my life and has played a major role in making me the person I am today.
“Global initiatives like ‘Save the Dream’ offer the chance to inspire young people around the world to take up sport. It’s vital that programmes like these continue to reach out to young people and educate them about how physical activity, sport and fair competition can enrich their lives.
“I am truly grateful for the lessons that sport has taught me in my life and I hope that over the next few days I can pass on my experiences to young people around Qatar. Over recent years, Qatar has done a lot to promote disability sport in the region and hopefully over the next few days I can help raise awareness about the many challenges that young disabled people face when trying to participate in sport,” she added.
Mohamed Hanzab, president of the ICSS, said: “Through the activities of her charity, ‘Disability No Limits’, Giusy has already impacted the lives of many disabled athletes around the world and I would like to thank her for supporting ‘Save the Dream’.
“As an international initiative, ‘Save the Dream’ hopes to engage many others champions and pioneers like Giusy over the coming months in order to inspire a new generation of sports stars in Qatar and around the Middle East.”