The Athletics Federation announced the composition of its delegation for the 21st Asian Athletics Championships, to be held in the Chinese city of Wuhan from 3-7 June, preceded by the general assembly meeting of the Asian Athletics Association, chaired by HE Major General Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad, president of the Asian and Qatari federations and IAAF vice-president. During the meetings to be held in the Chinese city of Wuhan in early June, elections for the new executive board will be held. HE Dahlan Al Hamad had already been re-elected unopposed as president of the Asian Athletics Association for the next four years, having spent two years as president after defeating the previous president, India’s Suresh Kalmadi, in the earlier election. Another welcome surprise is that the Asian federation will hold a grand gala at which the best male and female athletes will be announced, several prominent figures will be honoured, and future male and female champions will also be selected at the same event — an event that will be talked about by every fan of the mother of sports across the Asian continent and the whole world.
13 champions
The delegation will be headed by Mohammed Suleiman, assistant secretary-general, and will include Khalifa Abdulmalik as team manager and Khalid Rashid Al Marri as an administrator. Our national team will take part in the 21st Asian Championships with 13 of our champions, led by world and Olympic gold high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim; Femi Ogunode Seun in the 200m and 100m; Samuel Francis in the 100m; promising champion Abdalelah Haroun in the 400m, who is looking to add an Asian gold to his Arab gold from his first Arab appearance in Bahrain and at the Doha Diamond League meeting, and who has a bright future ahead given his great potential and legitimate ambition; golden athlete Mosaab Abdulrahman Balla and Jamal Hairane in the 800m; Mohammed Al Garni in the 1500m and 5000m; and Hisham Salah Abbas in the 3,000m steeplechase. Abdalelah Haroun, Mosaab Balla, Jamal Hairane and Mohammed Al Noor will compete in the 4x400m relay.
Our national team’s delegation to the Asian Championships also includes world youth hammer throw champion Ashraf Al Saifi, discus champion Ahmed Deeb Al Moghanni, and up-and-coming triple jumper Rashid Al Manai, alongside his brother Mohammed Al Manai, who is competing in the decathlon with great ambition after silver at the recent Arab Championships in Bahrain, whose title our national team won deservedly, and fans of the mother of sports look forward to fresh achievements from our champions at the Asian Championships in China.
The delegation also includes the federation’s coaches for the various events, headed by Joachim Kroch, Jama Aden, Stanislav Sizerba (high jump coach), Georgi Richard and Markov (triple jump coach), and Alex Malkov (hammer coach), among others.
Qualification for the World Championships
Khalifa Abdulmalik, director of the national teams at the Athletics Federation, confirmed that our national team’s champions are ready for the Asian challenge and possess the determination and resolve to achieve new feats that will delight fans of the mother of sports and reflect Qatari athletics’ distinguished standing continentally and globally, and our limitless confidence in our stars and their ability to fulfil this legitimate ambition. Abdulmalik wished our champions success in achieving the qualifying marks for the World Championships, after four of our champions had already secured their places at the upcoming World Championships in China: Mutaz Essa Barshim, Femi Ogunode Seun, Mosaab Balla and Abdalelah Haroun.
Our Olympic champion Mutaz Essa Barshim has prepared vigorously for the Eugene meeting in the United States, beginning intensive daily training immediately upon his return to Doha on the 19th of this month under the guidance of international coach Stanislav, in high spirits after his win at the Shanghai meeting and his victory over Bondarenko, his traditional rival in recent years in the Diamond League. Barshim and Bondarenko have met face to face 13 times in the Diamond League, with Barshim leading 7-6 in wins and 9-8 overall in their head-to-head meetings. The two champions met at the Shanghai meeting in China, in the second stage of the Diamond League, where Barshim prevailed with 2.38m against 2.32m for the Ukrainian, who tied with China’s Guowei Zhang on the same height but settled for second place on countback — a strong, superb start to the Diamond League season and a clear statement of intent from our golden champion to repeat last year’s feat of achieving the second-best mark in the history of world high jump competitions.
