Today’s athletics competition at the Rio 2016 Olympics got off to an exciting and thrilling start, with Qatar’s athletics stars and the world’s leading champions taking part in a fierce battle for 47 gold medals to be awarded to the fastest, strongest and highest. At the very start of his heats campaign, our runner Abdalelah Haroun deservedly booked his place in the 400m semi-finals. Our talented champion Haroun finished second in heat five with a time of 45.76 seconds, while the heat was won by American LaShawn Merritt in 45.28 seconds, with Botswana’s Makwala third in 45.91 seconds. Bahrain’s Ali Khamis also qualified for the 400m semi-finals. On the other hand, sprinter Femi Seun missed out on qualifying for the next round in the 100m heats, finishing fifth with a time of 10.28 seconds, well down on Femi’s Asian-record time of 9.91 seconds, though hope remains for him to make amends in the 200m. Elsewhere, runner Dalal Al Harith competed yesterday in the 400m heats, finishing seventh with a time of 1:07.12, with her participation at the Rio Olympics seen as valuable preparation and experience gained through competing against the world’s leading female sprinters.
HE Major General Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad, President of the Qatar and Asian Athletics Federations and Vice-President of the IAAF, took part in the medal ceremony for the discus event at the Rio Olympics, and said that the athletics competition at the current Olympic Games was seeing a great deal of closeness, excitement and fierce competition to reach the top positions, with new records even being set. He expressed his satisfaction with what our champion Abdalelah Haroun had achieved, wished Mutaz Barshim success in reaching his goal, and hoped Femi would make up for what he missed in the 100m in the 200m. He considered that Qatar athletics was taking part in order to present a positive image, just like all the other participating countries that came to Brazil aiming for excellence.
Mutaz Barshim begins the high jump challenge
The eyes of the world turn today to the high jump contest at the Rio Olympics, featuring our world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, bronze medallist at the London 2012 Olympics and 2013 World Indoor champion
Barshim is the second-best jumper in history, having cleared 2.43m, just two centimetres short of the world record held by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor, which has not been broken in 23 years. Champion Mutaz completed his serious preparations for the high jump event, holding a closed training camp in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, for two weeks with the aim of preparing well and adapting to Brazilian conditions, under the guidance of his world-class coach Stanislav, his personal doctor Mark, and his physiotherapist. Barshim’s morale is high, amid expectations of a fierce battle among the champions who have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics in the high jump.
Today, the dream final: the title of fastest man
The Olympic Stadium in Rio will host the dream showdown between the world’s fastest sprinters to determine the fastest man on earth, in which the leading sprinters are expected to compete, headed by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, holder of the world records in the 100m and 200m, against the world’s sprinters lying in wait, foremost among them his traditional rival, American Gatlin, and the rest of those hoping to knock Bolt off his throne and take the title of fastest man.
Bolt’s brilliance
World sprint star Usain Bolt stole the show in the 100m heats, receiving the lion’s share of the cheering and support from the huge crowds who turned out in large numbers to witness the qualifying heats, and Bolt won his bet to qualify with ease, topping his heat.
Arab athletes shine in the 800m heats
The 800m was notable for a standout Arab showing, with six Arab runners qualifying for the semi-finals, led by Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman, Egypt’s Hamada Mohamed, and Algerians Taoufik Makhloufi
Yassine Hethat and Amine Belferar, and Morocco’s Mostafa El Ismaili. Morocco’s Malika Akkaoui and Rababe Arafi reached the 1500m semi-finals, while Saudi Arabia’s Sultan Mubarak Al Zawadi went out empty-handed in the discus qualifying, and Egypt’s Anas Bashir and Bahrain’s Abubaker Abbas exited the 400m heats. The UAE’s Alia Saeed Mohamed finished 24th with a time of 31:56.74, marking her first Olympic appearance, while Tunisia’s Hosni Sbai finished 37th in the men’s 20km race walk, and Oman’s Mazoon Al Alawi, Saudi Arabia’s Kariman Abuljadayel, and Bahrain’s Hajar Al Khaldi and Iman Essa Jassim all went out in the second round of the 100m.
Four gold medals up for grabs today
On the third day of the athletics competition at the Rio Olympics, four gold medals (and an equal number of silver and bronze) will be awarded: the men’s 100m and 400m finals, and the women’s marathon final and women’s triple jump final.
Gold in the discus for Germany’s Christoph
German giant Christoph Harting was crowned discus champion at the athletics competition. Christoph (26) succeeded his older brother Robert, who had won the Olympic title in London four years earlier but went out in the qualifying round in Rio. Christoph secured his Olympic title with his last, sixth attempt, throwing 68.37m to snatch first place from Poland’s Piotr Malachowski, the 2015 world champion from Beijing, who threw 67.55m. Bronze went to fellow German Daniel Jasinski, also thanks to his final attempt, when he achieved 67.05m. As in the women’s shot put, the discus title was decided on the very last attempt.
