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UAE: Yemeni expat wins camel race, gets Dh100,000 cash prize

Chinese national Alexis came second to pick up Dh70,000 cash prize

Published: Thu 19 Jan 2023, 6:19 PM

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Reem Salem, a Yemeni expat, has won the fourth edition of the Camel Trek Marathon, winning a cash prize of Dh100,000.

Organised by Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC), 24 camel riders from 18 countries including the UK, US, Russia, Czech Republic, Yemen, Luxembourg, China, France, Jordan, Brazil, the Philippines, Estonia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Italy, Germany, Iran and Pakistan took part in the annual race.

She completed the two-kilometre race in three minutes and 10.5 seconds.

“I would like to thank HHC for organising this annual race and for training us to become excellent camel riders. The UAE is very close to me and winning this heritage sport gives me immense pride and honour. The race was very intense from start to finish and I’m so happy to finish on top,” she added.

Chinese national Alexis (Xiaozhe Huo) came second and completed the race in three minutes and 11.5 seconds, winning a Dh70,000 cash prize. Huo was the winner of last year’s edition.

French expat Aude Derflinger claimed third place, three minutes and 14.5 seconds to finish the race and got a Dh50,000 prize.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum awarded the winners, in the presence of Abdullah Hamdan Bin Dalmook, CEO of HHC. Bin Dalmook lauded the high number of participants and the diversity of nationalities in the annual camel race for expats.

The annual race is organised to promote the country’s cultural heritage as well as the spirit of tolerance.

The centre sent two camel convoys to Expo 2020 Dubai also last year as part of promotional activities to showcase the UAE's distinctive heritage worldwide.

In an interview with Wam last year, Bin Dalmook said the UAE has allocated camel ranches and horse stables to practice other related sports, such as falconry, to help safeguard the UAE's cultural heritage.



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