Jane Archer takes a look at the Qatari capital’s new museum dedicated to all things sports
Click here to download and save as a PDF
So this is how it feels to be an Olympian, I muse, as I enter Doha’s 3-2-1 Olympic and Sports Museum to stirring music and a roaring crowd. OK, they are on huge screens, but no matter; it still gives me quite a high.
The museum opened this year in Doha’s Aspire Zone – a rather futuristic name for an area with several sporting venues, including a pool and the city’s oldest football stadium.
It’s all part of Qatar’s bid to be hailed as the centre for sports and culture in the Middle East. Exhibits focusing on the country’s ambition to be a global sporting nation and the sporting events it has hosted are in one of the galleries.
There is also a special World of Football exhibition focusing on the Fifa World Cup that runs until April 2023. One of the most striking things about the museum is the design of the building – a glass cylinder surrounded by rings to resemble the Olympic logo. And it’s all illuminated at night.
Inside, just to be different, you start at the top and snake down through seven galleries dedicated to all things sports and Olympics.
There’s a bit at the start about the history of sport (who knew the Chinese were the first to play football?) and the ancient Olympics, plus a film about the modern games.
But I’d advise skipping through that to get to the displays of medals, mascots and torches from the modern games, and also the Hall of Athletes. Avid sports fans will love this area, which spirals down three floors, celebrating sporting greats alongside items they have donated.
Avid sports fans will love this area
There’s one of Roger Federer’s tennis rackets, Usain Bolt’s running shoes, the jockey shirt worn by Frankie Dettori at Newmarket in 2016, the bike Chris Boardman rode when he won Gold in Barcelona in 1992 – the list goes on and on.
They keep the best till last. At the Activation Zone I put on a wristband and test my sporting prowess on various high-tech interactive ‘stations’. I try hand-cycling, canoeing, running and zipwiring (actually hanging off a bar) and a ball game.
Apparently I excel at fortitude. No gold for me, but it could have been worse.
Book it
Qatar Airways flights from Heathrow to Doha cost from £787.
qatarairways.com
Four nights at the Park Hyatt Doha from February 6-10, 2023, costs from £652.
hyatt.com
Entry to the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum costs about £12.30.
321qosm.org.qa
PICTURE: Kateryna Reshetova
Read more
Crafts and cuisine: A look into ancient traditions in Oman
What can you do in Dubai, the top TikTok travel destination?
Jordan beyond Petra: this Travelsphere tour shows there’s much, much more
