Athletes of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will receive cash rewards for winning medals at the 29th Olympic Games that will be held on August 8-24 in China's capital of Beijing, local newspaper Gulf¹ News reported on Wednesday.

The decision to reward UAE medal winners at the Beijing Olympics was announced by Ibrahim Abdul Malik, the general secretary of the UAE National Olympic Committee (NOC) and general secretary of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare of the UAE.

The winner of a gold medal at Beijing Olympics will be rewarded one million dirhams (272,480 US dollars) for his/her effort, Malik said.

Anyone winning a silver medal will be paid 750,000 dirhams while the athlete who takes the third place will get 500,000 dirhams, he added.

Beijing Olympics is a historic² games for the nations, Malik said, adding that "it's a historic participation³ due to the big delegation⁴ we are taking part with."

The UAE will send a team of eight athletes to Beijing Olympics, which is the largest delegation sent by the Gulf country to the Olympic Games.

Among the eight athletes, the most promising⁵ gold medal winner is Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Hasher Al Maktoum, who won the UAE's only Olympic gold medal at 2004 Athens Olympics in men's Double Trap.

据阿联酋《海湾新闻报》本周三报道，阿联酋将重金奖励在本届奥运会上夺得奖牌的运动员。第29届夏季奥运会将于下月8日至24日在中国首都北京举行。

阿联酋奥委会主席兼青年与运动福利机构秘书长易卜拉欣•阿卜杜勒•玛立克日前宣布了这个决定。

玛立克说：“在北京奥运会上夺得金牌的阿联酋运动员将获得100万迪拉姆（约合27.25万美元）的奖金。”

他说，夺得银牌和铜牌的运动员将分别给予75万迪拉姆和50万迪拉姆的现金奖励。

玛立克说，北京奥运会对于世界各国而言，是一次重大的体育盛会。“这次我们派出了一个很大的代表团，这将是一次历史性的参与。”

地处海湾地区的阿联酋将派出八名运动员参加本届北京奥运会，这是阿联酋历史上派出的最大的奥运体育代表团。

在这八名运动员中，最有希望夺金的是迈哈迈德•马克吐姆，他在2004年雅典奥运会的男子双碟射击项目中为阿联酋夺得了唯一一枚奥运金牌。