UAE Olympic champion quits over heart trouble

Health problems force Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hashar Al Maktoum to give up on London Games.

Emirati Olympic shooting gold medalist Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher al-Maktoum, a member of Dubai's ruling family, fixes his Beretta competition shotgun at Nad al-Shiba in Dubai, July 27, 2008, during a training session just hours before leaving for China to defend his title in the double trap shooting event. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMANI *** Local Caption ***  959032-01-08.jpg
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DUBAI // Sheikh Ahmed bin Hashar Al Maktoum, the UAE's only Olympic gold medallist, has been forced to give up on his 2012 London dreams after been diagnosed with a heart condition.

Sheikh Ahmed, the double-trap shooting champion at the 2004 Athens Olympic, was looking forward to his fourth appearance at the Games later this year.

"Basically I have got a problem of heart enlargement, which was caused by a virus through cold," Sheikh Ahmed, 48, a former national squash champion, told the Qatar newspaper Gulf Times.

"It has weakened my heart muscles and the heart performance has dropped very low."