One of the greatest things about the Olympic Games
is that everyone starts on a level playing field.
Whether you come from poverty or privilege,
the important thing is taking part...and winning, of course.
Several members of the royal family
have subscribed to the Olympic motto of "Faster, Higher, Stronger."
For the world's kings and queens, princes and princesses,
this has mostly involved giving out medals to the fastest,
the highest and the strongest.
But several members of the international nobility
have actually taken part themselves, as Olympians, as athletes.
At Stockholm 1912,
there were two princes and a grand duke competing in events.
At Amsterdam 1928, Crown Prince Olav of Norway,
later King Olav of Norway, won gold for sailing.
His son, Prince Harald, had his own Olympic adventure.
Also a competitive sailor, he carried his country's flag
at the opening ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Albert, Prince of Monaco took part in the bobsleigh
at five Olympic Winter Games.
Princess Anne represented Great Britain
in the eventing competition at Montreal 1976.
She didn't win a medal, but 36 years later, did a superb job
of awarding a silver medal to her daughter, Zara Phillips.
Which brings us to Ahmad Al Maktoum, who competed in trap shooting -
that's shooting clay pigeons with a shotgun -
at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
His full name is Sheikh Ahmad bin Mohammad bin Hasher Al Maktoum.
The Al Maktoum family is the ruling family of the Emirate of Dubai,
one of the seven that comprise the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai may be famed for the spectacular Burj Khalifa
and the Palm Island complex,
but it has never been associated with Olympic glory.
The Emirates only united into a federation of states in 1971,
and they didn't enter the Olympics until 1984,
so when Al Maktoum turned up to the Sydney Olympic Games,
he was only viewed as a symbolic royal
rather than a serious contender for medals.
He had only taken up trap shooting in 1998, at the age of 34,
and Al Maktoum did not shine in his event
against the world's finest sharp shooters.
He came 23rd in the trap, and 18th in the double trap.
It was not a successful campaign,
but Al Maktoum liked his new title, Olympian,
and decided to make something of it because what he really wanted
was something you cannot inherit - an Olympic gold medal.
He set to work with a passion
to master the technique of trap shooting.
He had grown up as a hunter,
getting his first shotgun at the age of four.
There was little he didn't know about guns and shooting
and Al Maktoum was willing to put in the hours.
So to Athens for the 2004 Olympic Games.
In the single trap, Al Maktoum scored perfect rounds
in his first two outings.
He sailed through the qualifying with a score of 121...
..and was well placed going into the final,
only three points behind the leader.
Then things didn't go quite right.
A couple of missed shots when the pressure was on
and the chance of a first medal for the UAE slipped through his fingers.
He ended up in agonizing fourth,
missing out on bronze by a single target.
The UAE was still waiting for its first Olympic medal.
That left the double trap.
The double trap is maybe the greatest test of sharp-shooting,
requiring accuracy, composure and instant reactions.
The single trap focuses on just one target,
flying into the air at about 140kph.
Notice how they don't aim at the target,
but where they think the target is going to be.
The double trap requires two shots in about one second.
The switch from target to target is an extraordinary test of technique.
Ever played a shooting game?
Then you'll know two shots in a second is pretty fast.
Al Maktoum had always seen himself more of a double trap specialist.
In qualifying, he was near perfect,
matching the Olympic record with a score of 144.
He missed only six of the 150 clay discs.
Al Maktoum's closest challenger was a further six behind
going into the final.
He kept his cool, a key skill for a trap shooter,
hitting more targets than anyone else in the final.
His score of 45, from a maximum of 50,
meant that he had tied the Olympic record
for scoring in the double trap.
An emphatic victory for Al Maktoum...
..and a first gold medal for the United Arab Emirates.
That's put them on the map.
Al Maktoum went on to become world champion in 2005.
He retired from competition in 2009,
but didn't sever his ties with the sport.
He later teamed up with a promising young British trap shooter
named Peter Wilson.
Al Maktoum was impressed with the young man
and agreed to help him with his training.
What's more, he would do it for free.
It's like Star Wars - he's his Yoda.
Hmm. A good student he is.
A gold medallist he will become. Hmm. Hm. Hm.
By 2012, that training paid off.
Wilson started well.
As pressure told on Wilson, so it told on everyone else.
Vasily Mosin missed an important shot
and suddenly all Wilson needed was a hit.
I didn't do this for any other reason,
other than to win Olympic gold.
The world records, the World Cups -
nothing was more important than the Olympic Games.
This was the absolute pinnacle, and then to come here,
to London, I mean, and do it -
it's just amazing, I suppose, I don't know how else to put it.
So now Ahmad Al Maktoum has further titles -
Olympic gold medallist, world champion and now "coach".
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