Promising talents Barshim and Femi did Qatar’s national athletics proud
The challenges ahead are great and require redoubled efforts
Our ultimate goal is to advance the sport and the national teams
With a host of Qatari and international sports leaders in attendance, sport-loving Doha once again succeeded, as always, in capturing the world’s attention by hosting a superbly and creatively organised opening round of the 2011 Diamond League athletics series, featuring the biggest stars of world athletics, who competed with strength, honour and excitement over four full hours at 
Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium at Qatar SC, an evening rich with the spirit of “Faster, Higher, Stronger”, giving fans and lovers of athletics rich moments of skill and creativity from our world-class champions.
Dedication and effort of the working committees
All the working committees formed under the supreme committee, chaired by Abdullah Ahmed Al Zaini, president of the Federation, and his team, made huge efforts to ensure the event’s success and present it in a way that reflected well on the country. The championship achieved impressive results thanks to the dedication and effort of everyone involved, reflected in their attentiveness to the comfort of the guests at the Doha Diamond League 2011 meeting and in providing them with every facility and service, earning praise and appreciation from everyone.
A world-class media centre
The media centre truly embodied the professionalism of the athletics community and was equipped to the highest international standards, becoming a destination for a host of visiting and local media professionals who flocked to cover the event and found every facility and service they needed to carry out their professional duties toward the championship. The team led by colleague Fahad Al Hajri, head of the championship’s media committee, truly deserves every appreciation and praise for their outstanding service to media professionals at the main media centre at the Sheraton and the secondary centre at Qatar SC Stadium, over six full hours filled with dedication, perseverance and excellence in raising Qatar’s name high.
A record crowd turnout
The 2011 Diamond League meeting drew a remarkable, exemplary crowd that exceeded expectations and saw outstanding fan engagement, especially from the Ethiopian community and other resident communities, as athletics fans arrived early to take their seats inside Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium, with attendance exceeding 12,000 spectators who contributed wonderfully to the event’s success and deserve praise and appreciation. They truly proved that the grassroots base of athletics in the country is thriving. A final word: yes, behind this crowd success stood many dedicated men, most notably Captain Abdulhamid Khamis, deputy head of the committee, and his team, who worked together in great harmony and dedication to translate the vision of the organising supreme committee, chaired by Al Zaini, into reality, and this outstanding crowd turnout was the fruit of their efforts, for which they deserve commendation and appreciation. The fans committee is chaired by Olympian Mohammed Sulaiman, a board member currently attending a training course, in addition to Captain Abdo Ibrahim.
Qatar’s referees excel
The Qatari referees’ team, led by international referee Abdulhakim Al Amri, earned commendation and appreciation from the IAAF for their effort and world-class technical excellence at the Doha Diamond League 2011 meeting. The equipment committee, led by Yaqoub Zainal, also performed with great professionalism, with more than 150 people working to secure the stadium’s equipment and provide high-quality services to the meeting’s participants.
Support from our wise leadership
For his part, Abdullah Ahmed Al Zaini, president of the Qatar Athletics Federation, on behalf of Qatar’s national athletics community, extended his highest thanks and appreciation to HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Amir of the country, and to HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Amir, Heir Apparent and president of the Qatar Olympic Committee, for the unlimited support given to Qatari sport in general and Qatari athletics in particular, praising the qualitative leap achieved that has placed Qatar on the international map, and affirming that the Federation’s major achievements could not have been made without their highnesses’ support and wise guidance.
An effective role for the committees
Al Zaini also thanked his fellow Federation board members, as well as members of the championship’s organising committees, volunteers, sponsors and contributors, who made great efforts so that the Doha Diamond League 2011 meeting could be delivered in this impressive form, befitting Qatar’s consistent success in organising and hosting global events.
He singled out for special appreciation and thanks Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF, and all the officials of his federation, as well as the world athletics stars, all of whom helped showcase the event at Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium in a wonderful way, thanking them openly for their effective role in supporting this journey of success and excellence.
Al Zaini added that this success for Qatar’s men and our promising champions Mutaz Barshim, sprinter Femi Seun and young high jumper Rashid Al Manai in raising Qatar’s name high on the international stage was clear proof of the development of Qatari athletics and the dedication of its sons, as well as the fruit of the continuous work of the Qatari athletics community, noting that there are many goals and challenges ahead, foremost among them continuing efforts to advance the sport and the national teams, which will receive the lion’s share of attention and support until our ambitions are achieved.
The challenge of the stars, and Qatar’s youth
Returning to the story of the wonderful sporting evening, which saw many favourites falter while new stars emerged, among them local talents such as gifted Qatari sprinter Femi Ogunode and his teammate, high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, both of whom set national records, as the men’s events saw five of the seven winners from last year’s Doha Diamond League meeting fail to win at the start of their 2011 campaigns.
Among those who left Qatar SC Stadium disappointed was Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie, who could only manage fourth place in the pole vault, and shot putter Christian Cantwell, who surprised everyone by settling for fifth place, along with Andreas Thorkildsen, who also finished fifth in the javelin throw. None of them had lost more than twice in the 2010 season.
There were, however, two victories, for Frenchman Teddy Tamgho in the triple jump and for Asbel Kiprop in the 800m, while Eliud Kipchoge was defeated by another astonishing young athlete in the 3000m, ahead of an exciting, spectacular high jump competition that had the crowd inside the stadium on the edge of their seats.
Walter Dix achieved success at the start of his 2011 campaign with a comfortable win in the 200m in a time of 20.06 seconds, but most of the applause went to 19-year-old Qatari runner Ogunode, who broke the national record to finish second in a time of 20.30 seconds.
The young Qatari runner said after the race: “It’s a wonderful feeling to compete in front of my home crowd and to break the national record here, it’s a strong motivation, and I’m happy to represent Qatar. I tried to increase my speed but I lost my rhythm in the last fifty metres.”
Ogunode did not just push the Olympic bronze medallist hard to the finish line, he also got the better of Jaysuma Saidy Ndure, who covers the distance in under twenty seconds when at his best. The Norwegian record holder finished third in 20.55, while Ogunode improved his personal best by no less than 13 hundredths of a second.
