MARSEILLE: Ameena Shah, the first Kuwaiti sailor to qualify for the Olympics, only knew she would get a serious tilt at the Games a year ago after wrapping up a masters degree in London. Kuwait’s sailing federation, which Shah had been in touch with throughout her university years, came back to her when she finished in August last year with the good news. “They were like: ‘hey, let’s go, let’s see how far we can push within these next eight months’,” Shah, 23, told Reuters ahead of her Games debut in the women’s dinghy.

Shah, who was born in Scotland and loves its fish and chips but not the haggis, won a ‘universality place’ on the basis of her performance at a ‘last chance’ regatta” in April. “The feeling’s still not sunk in yet. I feel honored, but again, it’s still not like kicked in like: ‘oh my God, the Olympics!’. I’m hoping it clicks in soon,” she said.

“In the past two months I’ve been in five, six different countries ... just training, just regattas, trying to build up the levels as quickly as we possibly can,” Shah said. In addition to spending “most of her time” in the gym since hearing she was heading for Marseille, Shah said she and her Lithuanian coach had notched up around 74 hours on the water.

Same issues

Shah says she has received lots of messages of support from her sailing federation Kuwait, as well as family and friends. The more seasoned ILCA 6 sailors have also been welcoming to the newbies in the fleet. “It was really easy to jump in ... we all talk about the same things. We probably have all the same issues as well, so it’s a really nice group to mesh into,” she added.

While some other sailors are struggling with the Mediterranean heat, Shah says she is used to a lot worse. With diet crucial to fueling a campaign, Shah says she is enjoying the cheesecake in the Olympic village hotel.

And if she had to choose between Kuwaiti and Scottish food? Shah says the Kuwaiti classic of chicken and vegetables is a favorite and “you can’t go wrong” with desserts there. But when visiting relatives in her mother’s hometown of Dundee, Shah says, a trip to one particular chip shop is a must. “You can never say no to fish and chips,” she says. – Reuters