Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim competes during the men’s High Jump qualification of the Beijing 2015 IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, in this file photo.
Doha: The five-member Qatari athletics team has revved up its preparations ahead of the 2017 IAAF World Championships which will be held in London from August 4-13.
The mega athletics extravaganza will see over 1,900 athletes from over 200 countries taking part.
The Qatari team consists of champion high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim, hammer thrower Ashraf Al Saifi, javelin thrower Ahmed Bader and sprinters Abdulrahman Samba and Abdalelah Haroun.
Barshim, the national and Asian record holder with a best mark of 2.43m, enjoyed podium finishes at the last two Olympics, having won a silver medal in Rio and a bronze at the 2012 Games in London. The former Asian Indoor and World Junior champion, Barshim has also won the high jump gold medals at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships and 2011 Military World Games.
The 26-year-old star won gold in the Asian Athletics Championships in Kobe after clearing a height of 2.35m, a new national and championship record.
Barshim made his debut appearance on the global senior stage at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, where he was ranked seventh overall, and soon went on to become the champion high jumper in the gulf region by winning gold at the Gulf Council Championships and the Arab Championships before capping off his year with yet another international gold medal at the 2011 Pan Arab Games held in Doha.
In 2013, Barshim cleared a season-best of 2.37m to match his career indoor best, a figure which was the best at that time in the world indoors in 2013.
In the 2014 indoor season, Barshim enjoyed a sensational run and went on to win the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland as well as the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, setting up a new Asian indoor record of 2.38m. Later, the gravity defying Qatari star won the gold medal at the Incheon Asian Games with a performance of 2.35m.
Barshim had a great start to the 2016 season by winning the gold at the Asian Indoor Championships in Doha before heading to Rio 2016 Olympics, where he won the silver, clearing 2.36m, making him one of the best candidates to reach the top of the podium in the men’s high jump event at the upcoming World Championships.
Bader was the youngest competitor in his discipline at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the first-ever Qatari to compete in the javelin throw at Olympics.
The young javelin thrower has proven to be a formidable competitor after qualifying to Rio with an incredible throw of 84.74 metres. He recently qualified for the London 2017 World Championships in Athletics during the 16th GCC Athletics Championship.
Qatari hammer thrower, World junior record-holder and world leader Elseify won a gold medal at the 2012 Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Colombo, Sri Lanka, establishing a new Asian junior record.
The Aspire Academy graduate is also the holder of the youth record in the World Championships held in Barcelona 2013 and US Eugene 2015.
Samba claimed top honours in the 400m hurdles at the Doha Diamond League as he powered to victory in a time of 48.44 seconds.
The young sprinter who is also a graduate at the Aspire Academy, cruised to victory in the Sasol-NWU International athletics meeting earlier in March in South Africa with 48.31 seconds.
Sprinter Haroun, who specialises in the 400 metres is the 2015 Asian champion in the event, is the proud holder of the Asian indoor record.
His first recorded performance was a time of 45.74 seconds for the 400m in Doha in April 2014, which placed him among the world’s most promising young sprinters for the event.
He announced himself on the elite scene in his next performance at the XL Galan in February 2015 by running an Asian indoor record of 45.39 seconds, which was also the third fastest ever by a junior category athlete and the fastest ever indoor debut.
Haroun also produced a 500m world best time of 59.83 in Globen Galan the third stop on the new IAAF World Indoor Tour held in Stockholm in 18 January 2016.
The General Secretary of Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) Mohammed Issa Al Fadala told QNA that Qatar’s athletes and national team runners will take part in the competition with determination and will exert all efforts to achieve what we all hope for and take podium.
“We will work hard to boost the success of Qatari athletics, especially as Qatar will host the Seventeenth Edition of the IAAF World Championships 2019 and then participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan,” he said.
Al Fadala stressed QAF’s keenness to make new achievements and raise the flag of Qatar high in international forums.
Khalifa Abdulmalik, member of QAAF Board and Head of the National Team said that the athletes will head to London next week, after completing their European camps in preparation for the World Cup and they will be joined by Abdalelah Haroun, who is currently training in Doha.
“All the athletes are ready to compete in the world championship and seek to enhance Qatar’s famous record of achievements,” Abdulmalik said, pointing that they have gained further confidence and expertise after participating in the IAAF Diamond League season.
Former sprint starTalal Mansour, a member of QAAF Board and head of the Qatari delegation at the World Championships in London, said that Qatar athletics usually offer joy to the people of Qatar thanks to their superiority in major tournaments.
Talal Mansur has never been absent from Qatar’s national athletics since he was 14 years old when he started his career as an athlete and pledged that Qatar will win at least three medals at the 2019 World Championships which will be held in Doha, referring to the ongoing preparations to achieve this goal.
