Humaid Al-Derei was 21 years old at the time of the Games. He was making his Olympic debut and was the second Emirati Olympic judoka. Al-Derei received a wild card entry to the London Summer Olympics by participating in the 2011 World Judo Championships in Paris, but this was upgraded to a direct entry through earning enough points by entering the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix over the years. He trained in Belarus, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates as preparation for the Games; he was required to wear sunglasses due to an eye disease giving him a high degree of light sensitivity. Al-Derei said his objective for the Games was to perform to the best of his ability, "I will do what I can and the rest I will leave up to God." After he received a bye for the Round of 64, he took part in the Round of 32 of the men's 66kg competition, at ExCeL London on 29 July. He faced 10th ranked judoka in the world Ahmed Awad of Egypt. Awad caused an elbow injury to Al-Derei, which restricted the latter's movement after the game commenced, and performed an ippon to win at 2 minutes, 37 seconds. Al-Derei said post-match that Awad had too tight of a grip and that his opponent was worthy of his win.