Sports Programs Past Initiatives

Supported by Fondation Saradar, Lebanese Taekwondo champion Andrea Paoli participated in the 2012 Olympic Games held in London. She represented Lebanon in the 57kg category after having won all national and international championships leading up to her qualification to the Olympics.

Gloria Nasr was born in Beirut in 1970 and has been living in France since 1995. She is a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Gloria began to run in 2002. She participated in the Paris Marathon in 2003 and ran numerous marathons in the following years. She ran the New York, Berlin, Copenhagen and Beirut Marathons among others. She completed the Marathon des Sables, known as the toughest race on earth.

After the successes of the Seven Summits project (May 2006), and the Three Poles Challenge (April 2009), Maxime Chaya was on ‘expedition mode’ again. This time, he went for quite an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Indeed, one of the last remaining great challenges out there: Rowing the Indian Ocean (RIO). The preparations started in Lebanon. The voyage began from Perth - Western Australia, across the Indian Ocean, over to the Seychelles - off the East coast of Africa. Nothing but relentless open water with no land in sight for 4,200 Nm (7,700 km). Once the boat departed, it could not turn back for any reason, as wind and current prevented it from doing so.

Kassem has been dedicated to football since the age of 5. Trained with Athletico Club Beirut for 2 years and plays as a midfielder, he was chosen to be part of the Lebanese Youth National team since 2012, proudly becoming Captain of the team. Kassem has already participated in training camps at the French club Olympique Lyonnais, where his performances haven't been unnoticed. In March 2014, March Andrew and Kassem traveled to participate in a training with the Olympique Lyonnais.

Andrew is a young Lebanese player fully committed to football since he was 5. After playing with Al Ain Football club in the UAE, he joined Athletico Club Beirut for training, three years ago. Known for his fair play and his discipline, Andrew was selected to be part of the Lebanese Youth National team since 2012. He was detected by the Olympique Lyonnais recruiters and trainers as a high potential player, who can, given the adequate training, shine in the world of football.

Marc Boustany is a Junior Tennis player born in 1999 in Beirut. In 2013, he was number 1 (under 14 category) in Lebanese Tennis Federation (LTF) ranking, after only one year of training. Marc is a naturally born athlete. He started at 12 years old and caught up with players nationally and internationally because of his fast learning capacities. Some of Marc’s most recent achievements include winning tournaments such as CSMT La Coudoulière (France) and TC Sollies Pont tennis tournament (France). Since 2013, Marc moved to Cyprus to follow professional tennis training at Ioannides Tennis Academy. He lives away from his family to pursue his dream. Marc was selected to be part of the Lebanese delegation representing Lebanon at the Junior Davis Cup in Malaysia, in March 2015.

Born in Lebanon in 1988, Ray Bassil won her first title at age 15 at the Female Arab Championship in Algiers. With a Bachelor Degree in Food and Beverage Management in hand, Ray is pursuing her sport journey worldwide, achieving several first and second rankings, collecting gold and silver medals since 2004. Our champion is the first and only woman ever to represent the Arab countries in Trap Shooting at the Olympic Games in Rio 2016!

Her sport specialty being Distance running, Pia Nehme has achieved many outstanding records locally and internationally since 2005.

Léa Iskandar has been running since 2010 in Lebanon and in Europe. She has achieved podium wins every year, securing the first place in 5k and 10k local races and second place in the West Asian Championship.

Born and raised in Ivory Coast, Nader mainly focused on soccer and tennis, until he discovered running when he moved to Lebanon for studying. As of 2014, Nader focused on running, training extensively. He participated in several competitions in Lebanon, Abu Dhabi, Ivory Coast and Portugal, ranking with the aim and dream to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.