Jordan's Young Riders Make History: A Gold Medal at the 2025 Asian Youth Games
At the 3rd Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, Jordan's youth show jumping team pulled off one of the most dramatic finishes in the country's recent equestrian history — winning gold in a nail-biting jump-off against four nations. Here is the full story.
Bahrain, October 26, 2025 — The arena at the Bahrain Military Sport Association fell into the focused tension that only show jumping can produce: four nations, all on zero penalties after two full rounds, now facing each other in a jump-off that would decide everything. Among the teams still standing was a group of young Jordanian riders who, over the next few minutes, would deliver one of the finest performances in the country's recent equestrian history.
When the scores were finalised, Jordan had won gold.
The Competition
The 3rd Asian Youth Games — hosted by Bahrain from October 22 to 31, 2025, and making its debut as the first Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) event on Bahraini soil — featured equestrian competition for the first time in the Games' history. Show jumping events ran from October 23 to 26 at the BDF Equestrian Centre in Sakhir, drawing youth teams from across the Asian continent.
Jordan entered the team show jumping event as competitive contenders, having sent a squad under the supervision of national coach Raad Nasser. After two full rounds of competition, four nations — Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and two others — all finished on zero penalties. The result: a sudden-death jump-off to separate them.
In jump-offs, everything is amplified. The partnership between horse and rider, the pressure of the clock, the margin between gold and silver measured sometimes in tenths of a second or a single downed rail. For the Jordanian riders, the jump-off was a moment of truth.
They delivered a flawless performance.
The Team
Jordan's gold-winning squad at Bahrain 2025:
- Taimur Ulserim riding Ice Van de Molenbelt
- Eman Daghistani riding Gloria
- Ghazi Al-Aboura riding Nerando BH
- Mohammad Abu Hamour riding Mandela
All four are youth riders — the generation that will carry Jordanian equestrianism forward into the coming decade. Their performance in Bahrain was not only a sporting achievement; it was a statement about the depth and quality of Jordan's emerging equestrian talent pipeline.
Qatar finished in second place with the silver medal, while Saudi Arabia took bronze — both nations whose investment in equestrian sport has been significantly larger in terms of resources and infrastructure. Jordan's gold in that context carries particular weight.
Jordan's Place in the Final Medal Table
In the equestrian events overall, Jordan finished second in the medal table with one gold, behind only the UAE which dominated the endurance events and took two golds. Notably, Jordan earned the only gold available in show jumping — the discipline most comparable to Olympic-level competition.
Jordan also sent an endurance team to the Games — comprising Zain Al-Qassem, Sand Al-Gharaibeh, Karam Al-Omari, Fares Al-Natour, and Ahmad Naji, accompanied by team official Adam Al-Assaf — though the endurance squad did not finish (FTQ — Failed to Qualify to completion) in what is a demanding multi-hour race format against the Gulf nations who have long dominated the discipline regionally.
What This Victory Means
Jordan has a proud but often understated equestrian history. Ibrahim Bisharat, the country's most decorated show jumper, competed at three consecutive Olympic Games (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012), a remarkable achievement that places Jordan among a select group of Arab nations with consistent Olympic representation in equestrian sport.
The 2025 Asian Youth Games gold adds a new chapter. Youth competitions — particularly those affiliated with the Olympic Council of Asia — serve as the developmental pipeline for senior international competition. Riders who perform at this level are typically the ones who, within five to ten years, represent their countries at the Asian Games, the Arab Games, and — for the most exceptional among them — the Olympic Games.
For the Jordanian equestrian community, the victory in Bahrain should be read as more than a result. It is a signal that the structures supporting youth development in Jordan — the clubs, the training programmes, the coaches like Raad Nasser who guided this team — are producing riders capable of competing and winning at the highest levels available to their age group in Asia.
The Broader Regional Picture
The 2025 Asian Youth Games equestrian competition illustrated several wider trends in regional equestrian sport:
Saudi Arabia's dominance is not absolute. Despite the Saudi Equestrian Federation's massive 2025–2026 season — 65 national and international championships, including five-star competitions and the Longines Global Show Jumping Championship — Saudi Arabia's youth team could not match Jordan in the jump-off, finishing with bronze.
The UAE owns endurance. In the endurance events, the UAE was in a class of its own, sweeping all three individual medals and the team gold. Gulf nations, particularly UAE and Bahrain, have built infrastructures for endurance riding that are unmatched in Asia.
Youth show jumping is increasingly competitive. Malaysia's Ariel Budriah Jamalullail won individual gold, Iraq's Humam Harith took silver, and UAE took individual bronze — showing that youth show jumping talent is now distributed across a wide range of Asian nations, not concentrated in the traditional powerhouses.
Looking Ahead: The Road to Dakar 2026
One dimension that adds significance to the 2025 Asian Youth Games is its role as a qualification pathway. The Games served as a stepping-stone toward the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal — a multi-sport event for athletes aged 15 to 18. Strong performances at the Asian Youth Games can influence selection processes and qualifying pathways for Dakar 2026.
Whether members of Jordan's gold-winning team will progress toward Dakar 2026 qualification remains to be seen. The Youth Olympics use a separate FEI qualification process, but the momentum and visibility generated by an Asian Youth Games gold medal can be a significant factor in a young rider's development trajectory and international profile.
A Final Word
For Jordanian riders, their families, and everyone connected to the Jordanian equestrian community, October 26, 2025 is a date worth remembering. A group of young riders, under a national coach, in a debut discipline at a major multi-sport Games, won gold against four nations in a jump-off.
That kind of result does not happen by accident. It is the product of training, dedication, the partnership between horse and rider, and the institutional support that makes it possible for talented young Jordanians to compete at this level.
Congratulations to Taimur, Eman, Ghazi, Mohammad — and the entire Jordanian equestrian family.