Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar al-Baker has awarded five Paralympians with special Gold membership to Qatar Airways' frequent flyer programme, the Privilege Club.

The five athletes have all been top medal winners: Sara Masoud and Abdulrahman Abdulqader for the shot put, Khalifa al-Dossari and Hamad al-Bahih for speed skating and Abdullah al-Mana’I for snowshoeing.

The special gifts were awarded by Qatar’s national carrier in recognition of the Paralympians' contribution to sporting excellence and to encourage athletes of all abilities to come together and take part in sports, the airline has said in a statement.

In 2015 Qatar Airways supported the IPC Athletics World Champions in Doha, allowing para-athletes to compete for the first time, and in 2016 the airline supported Qatar’s sporting heroes to fly the largest-ever Qatari Olympic team to the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro.