Taekwondo champion Dunya Abu Taleb first athlete to carry sacred flame More than 9,000 athletes will take part in Games that open in October DIRIYAH: The countdown to the start of the third Saudi Games got underway on Thursday night as the torch relay began its journey from Bujairi Terrace in Diriyah. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Athletes and officials came together as the flame — a symbol of unity and ambition — was passed from Diriyah Governor Prince Fahd bin Saad to Ahmed Eid, the first elected president of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, and on to taekwondo champion Dunya Abu Taleb. “It’s an indescribable feeling, honestly, to carry the torch and put my thumbprint on a championship like this,” the Olympian told Arab News. The relay will take the flame on a 30-day, 3,500 km journey through 17 cities across the Kingdom before arriving in Riyadh for the start of the Games proper. This year’s competition coincides with the Year of the Camel, an animal that stands as a pillar of nation’s identity and culture and blends well with the torch’s message of friendship, peace and faith in the future. When asked how it felt to to receive the torch from Prince Fahd, Eid said: “My feelings didn’t start today, they started early in my life when I carried the Saudi Arabian flag for the first time. And the pride I have felt since to have carried it three times in a row. “Today I felt a deep trust between generations, between ideologies. The ideologies today are different than those around 50 years ago. Today, we see the vision of a nation, the vision of an inspired prince,” he told Arab News. “Sport is growth and that growth happens in competition. And the competition begins next week.” The 2024 Saudi Games begin in October 3rd and will feature more than 9,000 athletes competing in 53 sports. The event will also feature seven Paralympic sports, 11 exhibition sports and 15 youth sports. Eid said he was most looking forward to watching the football competition as the game “is my soul,” but was also keen on combat sports and had watched all of Abu Taleb’s contests. When asked what advice she would give to aspiring athletes, the taekwondo champion said: “Be ambitious … I hope that no player ever gets discouraged, and starts dreaming today and achieves all their dreams.”