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Saudi Show Jumping Team Qualifies for Paris Olympic Games 2024

Olympic rings to celebrate the IOC official announcement that Paris won the 2024 Olympic bid are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris, France, September 16, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
Olympic rings to celebrate the IOC official announcement that Paris won the 2024 Olympic bid are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris, France, September 16, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
    Asharq A-Awsat
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Saudi Show Jumping Team Qualifies for Paris Olympic Games 2024

Olympic rings to celebrate the IOC official announcement that Paris won the 2024 Olympic bid are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris, France, September 16, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
Olympic rings to celebrate the IOC official announcement that Paris won the 2024 Olympic bid are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris, France, September 16, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

The Saudi show jumping team has qualified for the Paris Olympic Games 2024 after winning first place in the Group G qualifications at the Doha International Show Jumping Championship.

The team was qualified after a distinguished performance by the Olympic jockeys Ramzy Al-Dohami and Abdullah Al-Sharbatly, as well as Abdul-Rahman Al-Rajhi and Khaled Al-Mobti.

President of the Saudi Equestrian Federation Prince Abdullah bin Fahd congratulated the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince and the Minister of Sports for this achievement.

He stressed that the Federation seeks to continue its top performance and is looking forward to outstanding results in the Paris Olympic Games next year.

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Leclerc Qualifies on Pole for Azerbaijan GP

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
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Leclerc Qualifies on Pole for Azerbaijan GP

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Charles Leclerc qualified on pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Max Verstappen was sixth and Lando Norris only 17th on Saturday in a session that could have a big impact on the Formula 1 title race.
Ferrari's Leclerc, who won the last race in Italy, was fastest by .321 seconds from McLaren's Oscar Piastri, and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. was third. Pole marked a dramatic turnaround for Leclerc, who crashed in the first practice session Friday.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend because (of) the crash in FP1, which didn’t make me lose confidence. I knew that the pace was there," Leclerc said. "But you’ve got to build back up to speed.”
Leclerc is on pole in Baku for the fourth year running, but he has yet to win the race, The Associated Press reported.
Norris was on what seemed to be a lap fast enough to progress from the first part of qualifying as one of the top 15. But he had to slow for a yellow flag that was apparently for Esteban Ocon's slow-moving Alpine. Norris' time from his first lap missed the 15th-place cutoff by .137 of a second.
“There was nothing I could do” about the yellow flag, Norris said. “Frustrating, but now we look ahead to tomorrow and see where we can maximize the result.”
Norris is second in the standings, 62 points behind Verstappen with eight races remaining.
McLaren confirmed before the race weekend that it would favor Norris over Piastri to help his title challenge, with Norris suggesting the Australian would be asked to make way for him on track in some situations.
That almost certainly won't happen Sunday with 15 places separating the teammates in qualifying. Piastri is aiming to fight for a second career win.
“Our race pace is good, but the Ferrari is certainly not slow,” he said.
Defending champion Verstappen, who hasn't won any of the last six races, seemed better in Baku but was sixth and said he'd clipped a curb at “the worst time it could have happened.” Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was fourth, beating Verstappen in qualifying for the first time all year.
Verstappen said the Red Bull was improved from the Italian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth, but questioned whether the team's attempts to refine the setup ahead of qualifying made things worse.
"On a street circuit you need to be comfortable and confident to be able to attack corners and it is harder to do this when the car is a bit more unpredictable," he said.
George Russell was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton seventh and Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.
There was a bizarre incident in the final part of qualifying when Williams' Alex Albon stopped on his way out of the pits to remove a large piece of cooling equipment that the team left in his air intake. Albon qualified 10th and was facing an investigation from the stewards after the session.
Albon's teammate Franco Colapinto, in only his second F1 race weekend, was ninth in the best qualifying result for an Argentine driver in 42 years.
British teen Oliver Bearman, standing in at Haas for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, was 11th after recovering from a crash in the third practice Saturday morning.