Our champion Abubaker Haydar Abdalla achieved the Olympic qualifying mark, clocking 1:44.82 in the men’s 800m at the opening meeting of the Diamond League – the Doha meeting – held on the track and field at Khalifa International Stadium.
Abubaker Haydar became the first Qatari athlete to officially qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, a remarkable achievement for Qatari athletics.
Abubaker Haydar finished fourth in the 800m, in which veteran Botswanan runner Nijel Amos won gold in 1:44.29, Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir, last year’s champion, finished second in 1:44.50, and American Donavan Brazier came third in 1:44.70.
Our champion Jamal Hiran finished tenth in 1:46.27, followed by teammates Mubarak Rabie in eleventh and Abdulrahman Hassan in thirteenth.
Abubaker Haydar’s Olympic qualification confirms his strong start to the season, after winning gold at the recent 23rd Asian Athletics Championships, held at the same Khalifa Stadium, where he set the best time in the world this year of 1:44.33.
Abubaker Haydar expressed his great happiness at qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, noting that he had given his all during the race as part of the Doha Diamond League meeting, leading through the first 600m and trying to finish in the top three, but in the final 50m the Botswanan Nijel Amos, the Kenyan Korir and the American Donavan pulled away at full speed.
Haydar said his ambitions are great and that he continues to look to improve his personal best and achieve the best results for Qatari athletics, adding that he feels optimistic about what lies ahead in continental and international competition in this event.
