Ray Bassil competing under the Qatari flag during a competition in September 2025 in Morocco. (Photo provided by the athlete.)
Ray Bassil is no longer Lebanese. A native of Kesrouan district's Dlebta village, and a world champion in trapshooting and skeet who proudly represented Lebanon for 22 years and at four Olympic Games, changed her passport last August: she is now Qatari. The Gulf emirate supports athletes for potential participation under its flag at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, and “sports development there is of a very high level,” explains the 30-something-year-old, who sees herself progressing “technically, physically, and mentally.”But the Qatari offer might never have come if the shooter had received what she needed to continue her career representing Lebanon: financial support for training, equipment, well-maintained infrastructure at her level, and a national sports circle dedicated exclusively to the interests of its athletes. “In Lebanon,...
Ray Bassil is no longer Lebanese. A native of Kesrouan district's Dlebta village, and a world champion in trapshooting and skeet who proudly represented Lebanon for 22 years and at four Olympic Games, changed her passport last August: she is now Qatari. The Gulf emirate supports athletes for potential participation under its flag at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, and “sports development there is of a very high level,” explains the 30-something-year-old, who sees herself progressing “technically, physically, and mentally.”But the Qatari offer might never have come if the shooter had received what she needed to continue her career representing Lebanon: financial support for training, equipment, well-maintained infrastructure at her level, and a national sports circle dedicated exclusively to the interests of its athletes. “In...
