Ahmed Al-Maktoum is a hero in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), not because he is descendant of Dubai's ruling family, but as he won the first Olympic gold medal for the oil-rich Middle East Asian country.
When another session of Olympic Games is drawing near, however, the shooter who arrived at Beijing on Monday said his expectation had changed.
"I came here because I won the quota, and it's an honor to be at the Olympics, but I didn't expect anything," he said.
Al-Maktoum believed his family had talent in shooting. His grandfather and his father all loved shooting. His cousin Saeed Al-Maktoum was gold medalist at the Asian Shooting Championships in 2003 and runner-up at the Doha Asian Games in 2006.
The 44-year-old Al-Maktoum started shooting in 1998, after he had dominated at squash in UAE for 16 years, wrapping up almost all the gold medals in domestic competitions.
In retrospect, the athlete said at the Athens Olympics six years later, he was "100 percent hard-working". The gold medal made him a celebrity across the country, who was often recognized by people and asked to take photos or for signature.
In 2005, he secured a quota place in men's double trap to the Beijing Olympic Games for his country, but later disappeared from shooting ranges.
"To win a gold medal is both good and bad," he said. "Good is you won a gold, bad is you won't be so interested in the sport as much. I won the Olympic champion and the world champion I had everything. There's nothing to work for."
So he stopped completely and got married. Later, his daughter was born.
Talking about his ten-month-old daughter, the sun-tanned Al-Maktoum smiled with content.
"She is my gold medal," he said.
Although his wife supported his career in shooting, Al-Maktoum wanted to enjoy his own life, staying with his family, going to gyms, playing squash, going hunting and helping the national team.
At the Good Luck Beijing ISSF Shooting World Cup this April, he was ranked 25th in his discipline. But this didn't seem to have influenced him much.
"In fact I started training just two months before coming here, two hours to six hours a day," he said.
Looking into the future, he said no matter he wins or loses this time, "I will still do it (shooting), but just enjoy and relax."
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2008)