Nasser Al-Attiyah hopes to make this a fortnight to remember. While his focus this upcoming week is on winning the Rallye du Maroc and taking the World Rally-Raid Championship lead, he arrives in Morocco with an Asian Games gold medal around his neck.

Last Wednesday in Aichi, Al-Attiyah and Team Qatar won the gold for men’s team skeet shooting. It is his third gold at the Asian Games after 2002 and 2010, while also claiming a team silver in 2022 and two individual bronzes in 2010 and 2022.

Al-Attiyah, Rashid Saleh Al-Athba and Ali Ahmed Al-Ishaq racked up 353 total points in the competition, lifting Qatar to their first gold in Aichi–Nagoya. Kuwait settled for the silver with 348 points followed by India’s 346. Al-Athba also won the individual skeet gold while Al-Attiyah was fifth.

After Saturday, these remain Qatar’s only golds of five total medals. The country also has two silvers in men’s 60-kg karate and men’s 3×3 basketball, along with a bronze in men’s 84-kg karate.

“Praise be to God for winning the team gold medal. I congratulate my teammate Rashid Al-Athba on winning gold in the individual competition,” Al-Attiyah said. “I would also like to thank HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, whose presence was a great source of motivation for us. I also thank the Qatar Shooting and Archery Association for its continued support.”

Al-Attiyah’s successes in rallies are obviously more well known, but he has been one of the Middle East’s top competition shooters on the side too. He is a five-time Asian Shooting Champion and even won Olympic bronze in skeet at the 2012 London Games.

His Olympic debut came in 1996, where he finished 15th overall in men’s skeet, then cracked the final in 2000 en route to a sixth. In 2004, Al-Attiyah narrowly missed out on bronze as he tied Juan Miguel Rodríguez (Cuba) and Shawn Dulohery (United States) in the final, then lost to Rodríguez in the shoot-off by one point and settled for fourth. After a down 2008 where he placed 15th, the Qatari broke through for bronze in 2012.

Al-Attiyah’s last Olympic appearance was a 31st in 2016. He tried to make the 2024 roster but failed, and has been frank about being off his game due to his time away from the sport as he focused on rallies. With the gold on Wednesday, he hopes to carry that momentum and qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“I managed to achieve the best results, which gave me considerable motivation to return to competition,” he continued. “I entered the competition as well prepared as possible, and thankfully my teammates and I managed to win the gold medal in the team event, while I finished fifth in the individual competition.

“I have not yet reached 100 percent of my level, and I am working to prepare myself better for the next challenge, particularly the World Shooting Championships in Doha, which will serve as a qualifier for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.”

Until then, his goal is a fourth W2RC crown. Entering Morocco, he trails Dacia teammate Sébastien Loeb by just three points. Al-Attiyah won Dakar for the fifth time in January, had a tough going in Portugal, then placed third in Argentina.

While Al-Attiyah is the only person to have both an Olympic medal and a Dakar Rally win, he’s not the lone crossover. Other notable examples include:

• Luc Alphand: Won the Dakar Rally outright in 2006. Competed in the Winter Olympics in 1988, 1990, and 1994 in alpine skiing with a best finish of fourth in ’88.
• Jacques Anquetil: Did the Dakar in 1986 as Pierre Yver’s navigator. Won bronze in team road cycling at the 1952 Olympics.
• Brigitte Becue: Navigator for Stéphane Henrard at the 2007 Dakar, finishing tenth overall. Was an Olympic swimmer from 1988 to 2000, highest placement of seventh in the 200-meter breaststroke in 1996.
• Kiki Caron: Navigated for Bernadette Sacy at the 1982 and 1983 Dakars, retiring from both. Won silver in women’s 100-meter breaststroke at the 1964 Olympics.
• Albert Grimaldi: Better known as Prince Albert II of Monaco, he retired from the 1985 Dakar. Competed at the Winter Olympics in bobsled from 1988 to 2002.
• Sergio Lafuente: Three-time Dakar quad stage winner and current navigator. Finished 26th in 82.5-kg weightlifting at the 1992 Olympics.
• Albert Llovera: Current Dakar truck racer. Was the youngest athlete at the 1984 Winter Olympics, finishing 48th in downhill alpine.
• Adam Małysz: Raced Dakar five times from 2012 to 2016 with a best run of 13th in 2014. Won three Olympics silvers and a bronze in ski jumping in 2002 and 2010.
• Carole Montillet-Carles: Raced Dakar in 2007 but did not finish. Won gold in women’s downhill skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
• Marie-Claire Restoux: Navigator for Sylviane Goutaland at the 1998 and 1999 Dakars, being the highest-finishing women’s team in the former. Won the women’s 52-kg judo gold at the 1996 Olympics.
• Bernhard Russi: Finished 84th overall at the 1982 Dakar. Won downhill skiing gold at the 1972 Winter Olympics and silver in 1976.
• Sylviane Telliez: Navigated for Nicole Dacquay in the 1983 Dakar, retired. Sprinter at the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Summer Olympics.
• Miklós Ungvári: Navigator for Sándor Sebestyén and József Bognár at the 2014 Dakar, finishing 47th overall. Won silver in men’s 66-kg judo at the 2012 Olympics.
• Robert van de Walle and Ingrid Berghmans: Shared a car at the 1985 Dakar, but rolled. Van de Walle won gold in 95-kg judo at the 1980 Olympics and bronze in 1988, while Berghmans claimed 72-kg women’s gold in 1988.

Incidentally, Alphand is the current deputy director of the Rallye du Maroc.

Claude Brasseur, the 1983 Dakar-winning navigator for Jacky Ickx, missed out on this company since he got hurt before he could join France’s bobsled team at the 1964 Winter Olympics.

Featured image credit: Qatar Olympic Committee