ANOC World Beach Games

For New Zealand’s kata star Andrea Anacan, competing in an ANOC World Beach Games in Doha was not where she would have anticipated being last October. Kata is not a sport traditionally associated with the beach and it took Anacan a moment to get her bearings. “When we arrived in Doha and I saw the venue my jaw dropped,” she said. “I thought, this is so beautiful. I had to refocus myself and remind myself you’re here to compete. Looking at the beach

The ANOC World Beach Games was created as an opportunity to connect NOCs with new sports and new stars. Germany’s Florian Gruber was one such star who took full advantage of this opportunity. “Kite surfing is a pretty young sport, for them it is really important to have a platform where we can present how good we are; how cool the sport is,” Gruber said. “The ANOC World Beach Games was a really nice opportunity for everyone.” Like many of the athletes in

One year on from the hosting the first-ever ANOC World Beach Games, the Qatar Olympic Committee is able to look back fondly on an event that proved to be very successful. “Qatar has been fortunate to host many world-class events. But the ANOC World Beach Games was unique, said QOC Secretary General HE Mr Jassim Rashid Al-Buenain said “This was the first and only global festival of beach, water and action sports. The atmosphere is also very different to other international events. As