Four Qatari athletics champions take on a new challenge at the mother of sporting events as they defend Asia’s ambitions at the IAAF Continental Cup, which gets under way today in Marrakech, Morocco, with the participation of an elite group of the finest continental champions in athletics, most of them world and Olympic champions, who will compete for continental medals over two days of track and field events. Qatar’s champions will defend Asia’s standing at the championship after being nominated by the continent to defend the mother of sports at this great gathering organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The task falls to our Qatari champions, led by Olympic and world gold medallist Mutaz Essa Barshim in the high jump, promising sprint star Femi Ogunode, in fine form over 100m and 200m, the continent’s outstanding gold medallist Musaab Abdulrahman in the 800m, and Qatar’s formidable steeplechase champion Abubaker Ali Kamal, known as Koko, in the 3000m steeplechase. Qatar’s four champions will represent the Asian continent in a new challenge they enter at full strength, being the best in the continent and the most capable of doing it credit among the champions of the Americas, Africa and Europe. They were chosen to defend the continent’s flag in this great challenge after proving with results that they are the ones most capable of honouring the Asian continent, having shone on more than one international occasion and gone head to head with the biggest champions. The continent found none better than them in terms of the records with which they broke the continent’s best marks, opening the way to a bright future for Asia and confirming the leadership and excellence of Qatari athletics in the present and the future. Asia chose Qatari world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim to represent it among the continental champions after he proved himself the best in the world at the present time by winning the Diamond League trophy and reaching a mark that is hard for any continental champion to match, 2.43m in the high jump, achieved at the Brussels meeting, the Diamond League final, and he continues to progress in the event with confident steps towards the future in the high jump, according to IAAF statistics, and will be the closest to crowning the Asian continent with a medal in the great challenge.
As for the selection of our gold champion, king of the 800m in Asia, Musaab, it came as a convincing choice by the Asian Athletics Association after the promising Qatari champion excelled in the 800m and was able to climb to the top of the Asian continent with distinction at the Asian Athletics Championships, the Asian Games and the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, in addition to achieving creditable results in the world challenges in which he represented his country. Musaab holds a time of 1:43.93, his best mark, which has made him the continent’s best runner in this event
As for the third Qatari champion entrusted with defending the continent in the great challenge, he is our champion Abubaker Ali Kamal, holder of a time of 8:31.24 at the Doha Diamond League meeting, the best in the continent, and the champion known as Koko will represent the continent in the 3000m steeplechase
As for the fourth champion who will represent the continent in the great challenge, he is Qatar’s Femi Ogunode, who has won numerous titles and many achievements of late, most notably finishing second overall in the Diamond League standings that concluded earlier this month in Brussels. Femi will defend the flag of Asian athletics in the 100m, in which he holds a time of 10.08 seconds set at the Sofia meeting in Bulgaria last June, noting that he holds his best time, set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2011, and he is expected to go under this mark this year given his continuing progress in the sprints. Femi will also defend Asia’s ambitions in the 200m, in which he holds a time of 20.06 seconds achieved in the Bulgarian capital Sofia last June, his best time in the 200m, only fractions of a second off the Asian record held by Japan’s Shingo Suetsugu of 20.03 seconds. The Secretary General of the Asian Athletics Association, Singapore’s Maurice, heads the Asian delegation to the IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakech, Morocco, hoping for the best results, and Maurice is banking heavily on Qatar’s champions to represent Asia and achieve the best results and be crowned with coloured medals at this great continental gathering in which the continents choose their best champions to achieve success, saying that it was the statistics that determined the champions
