by sportswriters Lin Deren and Liang Chen
NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Six-time Dakar Rally champion Nasser Al-Attiyah added another title to his remarkable sporting career on Wednesday, helping Qatar win the men's skeet team gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
The 55-year-old, who claimed his sixth Dakar Rally title in January, secured his third Asian Games gold medal and sixth shooting medal overall, 32 years after making his debut at the 1994 Hiroshima Games.
"To start from the Hiroshima Asian Games and to come back here again, and today for our team to win two gold medals, is really amazing," Al-Attiyah said.
Despite having just two months to prepare for the Games because of his rallying commitments, Al-Attiyah hit 120 of 125 targets in qualification, posting one of the day's three highest scores. He qualified third for the individual final but finished fifth.
"My performance was really very good and strong," he said. "I made a very high score, one of the highest scores in the field."
"Motorsport is very important to me, but when it comes to the Asian Games or the Olympic Games, I put everything into it and try to achieve the best result."
Al-Attiyah made his Asian Games debut in Hiroshima in 1994, finishing 17th in men's skeet. He subsequently won team gold medals at Busan 2002 and Guangzhou 2010 before claiming team silver and individual bronze at Hangzhou 2023.
His international shooting career stretches back even further. Having taken up the sport in 1993, he qualified for his first Olympics at Atlanta 1996 and went on to compete at six consecutive Games.
He finished sixth at Sydney 2000 and fourth at Athens 2004 before finally reaching the Olympic podium at London 2012, where he won bronze in men's skeet at the age of 41.
Alongside his shooting career, Al-Attiyah has established himself as one of rallying's leading competitors.
He made his Dakar Rally debut in 2004 and narrowly missed out on the title in 2010 before securing his first victory in the car category the following year.
In January, he claimed his sixth Dakar crown after holding the overall lead throughout the final four days of the 13-day event.
While shooting and rallying demand different skills, Al-Attiyah believes his involvement in both sports has helped him maintain his competitive edge.
"They work together," he told Xinhua.
"Shooting helps me a lot in rallying, and rallying also helps me a lot in shooting, especially in making me mentally stronger, so I love both sports."
Despite competing against athletes considerably younger than himself, Al-Attiyah believes experience remains one of his greatest assets.
"I'm still strong," he said. "My advantage is experience."
Having last competed at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Al-Attiyah is now targeting a seventh appearance at Los Angeles 2028.
"The World Championship will be in Qatar, and there will also be quota places for the next Olympic Games," he said.
Should he qualify, his Olympic career would span 32 years, from Atlanta 1996 to Los Angeles 2028, another milestone in a sporting career that has taken him from Olympic shooting ranges to the deserts of the Dakar Rally. ■
