| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1993 (age 31–32) Hama, Syria |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Paracanoe |
| Disability class | KL1, VL2 |
| Club | SV Halle Para Kanu |
| Coached by | Ognyana Dusheva |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Paralympic finals | 2020 |
| World finals | 2021 |
Anas Al Khalifa (born 1993) is a Syrianparacanoeist, who competed for theRefugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. Born in Syria, he now lives in Germany.
Al Khalifa was born in 1993, inHama.[1] He fled the country due to theSyrian civil war.[2] He lived in aninternment camp for two years,[3] before fleeing to Turkey in 2014. He later travelled through Greece, and in August 2015, Al Khalifa arrived in Germany, where he got a job installingsolar panels.[1] He has lived inHalle.[4][5]
In 2018, Al Khalifa broke his back in a workplace accident, and became reliant on a wheelchair.[6] His brother was killed in Syria in 2020.[2]
Al Khalifa is coached by former OlympianOgnyana Dusheva, and trains atSV Halle Para Kanu.[1] He started training in 2019 in an indoor swimming pool.[1] In April 2021, he failed to qualify for the German paracanoe team for the delayed2020 Summer Paralympics.[6] In May 2021, he competed at the Paracanoe World Cup event inSzeged, Hungary,[5] and later in the year he also competed at the2021 Canoe Sprint European Championships, where he beat hispersonal best time by over five seconds.[6]
In June 2021, Al Khalifa was announced in theRefugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.[7] He competed in theKL1 andVL2 events, finishing sixth in the heats of both events.[2] He finished ninth overall in the KL1 event[8] and was fifth and last in his VL2 semi-final.[9] Later in the year, Al Khalifa came fifth in theKL1 event at the2021 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. He competed for Germany at the championships.[10]