UAE Concludes 2025 with Record-Breaking Sporting Achievements

Abu Dhabi, The Gulf Observer: The United Arab Emirates concluded 2025 with a historic year of sporting success, recording unprecedented medal hauls across regional, continental, and global competitions and marking its most successful performances to date in multi-sport events.

Throughout the year, Emirati athletes delivered outstanding results at major international tournaments, including record tallies at the GCC Beach Games Muscat 2025, the 3rd Asian Youth Games Bahrain 2025, and the Islamic Solidarity Games Riyadh 2025, underscoring the nation’s growing strength across a wide range of disciplines.

In professional football, Sharjah FC achieved a landmark victory by claiming its first AFC Champions League Two title, defeating Singapore’s Lion City Sailors 2-1 in the final and cementing its place in continental football history.

The UAE also continued to assert itself on the global cycling stage, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG maintaining its dominance. Team leader Tadej Pogačar secured his second UCI World Championships Road Race title in Kigali and captured his fourth Tour de France crown, while the team also claimed top honors at the Tour de Pologne.

Jiu-Jitsu remained a flagship sport for the UAE, highlighted by a historic 50-medal haul at the 2025 Ju-Jitsu World Championships in Thailand. The national team also achieved podium finishes at the World Games 2025 in Chengdu and the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, in addition to winning a combined 66 medals across the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour.

In other combat sports, the UAE national karate team further boosted the country’s medal count with notable successes at the Islamic Solidarity Games and several Asian championships.

Para-athletes delivered standout performances during the year, led by Thekra Alkaabi’s gold medal in the women’s 100m T71 frame running at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi. The UAE delegation also secured nine medals at the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup hosted in Al Ain.

The nation’s sporting diversity was reflected in achievements beyond traditional arenas. In chess, Mouza Nasser Al Shamsi won the Women’s 1700-rating category at the World Amateur Individual Chess Championship in Serbia. Meanwhile, the UAE recorded an impressive eight-medal debut in modern pentathlon at the World Championships in South Africa.

Success also extended to water sports across Asian and European circuits, while the national badminton programme achieved its first-ever continental medal. Traditional sports continued to play a central role in the UAE’s sporting identity, with athletes sweeping world and Asian titles in endurance horse racing and securing historic medals during camel racing’s debut at the Asian Youth Games.

Collectively, the achievements of 2025 highlighted the UAE’s sustained investment in sports development and its emergence as a leading multi-sport nation on the global stage.