How a university student juggled final-year exams with Olympic showjumping debut

If you think university life is lie-ins and nightlife, take a look at 21-year-old Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi, who made his Olympic showjumping debut at Paris 2024.

Omar, who was also the flag bearer for the UAE along the Seine, completed his degree in philosophy and sociology alongside preparing for the Olympics this summer. He studied at the prestigious Sorbonne in Paris, one of the top-ranked universities in the world.

“I have just finished my double bachelors degree, and will graduate in October,” says Omar, who speaks Arabic, English and French. “The Sorbonne also has a small campus in Abu Dhabi, and sometimes in the last year they gave me online sessions to make my life easier.

“Hopefully now I am going to find a job, continue my masters and my sport as well. That’s not going to stop.”

William Funnell is the chef d’equipe for the UAE team, so Omar benefited from his tutelage, and that of Duncan Inglis. This supported training from his dad, who has been his long-time coach and previously competed in Nations Cups himself.

It’s clearly a winning formula. The UAE, an emerging showjumping nation, gained their first ever Olympic qualification for Paris in Doha last year. Here, Omar comfortably qualified for the individual final aboard Enjoy De La Mure, with a clear and just one time-fault.

“William told me before I went in, ‘Whatever happens, try to ride as you usually ride,’” Omar explains. “My dad – Abdelaziz – gave me some tips too, ‘don’t leave the horse empty’. So everyone’s advice really helped. My dad has been my trainer since I was seven years old and knows me inside out. My parents are here – my mum for the first time – my siblings, the who UAE equestrian family; this is the least I can do for them.”

By the time Omar went into the ring, he knew there were around 20 clears, with 30 to qualify – so a clear, with a little time, would be good enough.

“I decided to keep everything tidy and not put the time in my mind, because in this sport, whenever you go fast there might be some tricks,” he says. “I took my time to enable the horse to clear the fences and it worked out.

“Enjoy is an amazing horse,” he adds. “He was bred here in France and the breeder and his previous rider is also here. Enjoy always tries his best; he’s a fighter who loves to jump and he’s very energetic. I just need to place him in the right place and he’ll do the job.”

Ultimately it would not be enough to challenge for the medals, but it was an eye-catching debut from the 2018 youth Olympic silver medallist.

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