Special Olympian

Who would have thought that a Lebanese would bring back an Olympic medal? Edward Maalouf knew it all along; he only wishes his government appreciated it a bit more.

What’s your favorite place in Lebanon?

Every single bit of it, all of Lebanon is wonderful.

You’re not here often though, are you?

I follow my training. Most of it is done abroad, some in Holland, some in South Africa, depending on the weather. Sometimes I train in Switzerland.

Because we don’t have the facilities for it…

For sure. If you train here you’re afraid to get killed by a car. I mean the only place I can train here is the Marina, and my warm-up alone is 50km so I have to keep going around. Plus you need variation in the roads to get good.

But you’ve managed to do it anyway…

It takes a lot of work, training and sacrifice and if you want to be a professional athlete, and that’s normal. You have to leave your family, travel all the time – and while that may sound nice, if you travel every week it’s too much.

Is that why we have fewer athletes than we should?

I think we have enough athletes but they just didn’t get the chance at training that I did. You need to figure out what you’re good at, what you should avoid and where you can improve. I got involved with many athletes and contacts. You need to be involved with people much better than you.

You began with the marathons…

Yes, on the normal wheelchair. And then I thought that it was too slow, so I got another one. What motivates you though is winning races; it tastes very nice.

How has disability affected your life?

My life is now better than what it was. I accept my handicap and don’t view it as a problem. It’s like when you have uncomfortable shoes that you have to walk in, you deal with it. I consider what I can do, not what I cannot do. The disabled in Lebanon tend to isolate themselves and fear the public. The government should really put some more work into the disabled society, and help them get their lives back. This haram attitude is old, and it would be better if people took some action instead of just looking and saying haram.

The government doesn’t support you then?

You have a World Championship every year and an Olympic competition every four years. I’m now sponsored by Act for Lebanon and Nestlé Pure Life and they’ve taken a huge load off. The government back home gave me little more than moral support and I don’t need that. I mean, I get more help from the Dutch government.

So it’s a thanks, but give us the cash please…

Yeah, the Ministry of Sports gave me $10,000 for two bronze medals. My friend in Italy got €40,000 for one medal. Also, the $10,000 was given without any real heart – they still chime it in my ear about it every time. How can they afford massive lunches and events but can’t afford to support or honor an athlete? I mean, if you can’t support athletes, then perhaps you shouldn’t have a Ministry for Sports? Shut it down, go home and spare the national treasury your salaries. Being a professional athlete is a full time job. I don’t go to these competitions just for tourism, you know. I go to win.

We don’t have many Olympic contestants, and those we do have are sponsored and trained by commercial entities, private donations or other governments. This is an embarrassment to me as a Lebanese. And while he’s got the expenses figured, a bit of moral support may go a long way; drop him a line via his blog.