Qatar’s fine form continued into the second day of the 5th Arab Junior Athletics Championships, hosted at the official stadium in Rades, Tunisia from 7-9 June, with 13 Arab countries taking part.
Mohanad Khamis Abdullah won the Qatari delegation’s first gold in the 2000 metre steeplechase in a time of 5:59.09, ahead of Iraq’s Hussein Haitham Lafta who took silver in 6:01.56, while Tunisia’s Hamdi Ayouni finished third to claim bronze in 6:02.53
The race was extremely tight, and Mohanad focused on the tactical side, settling it on the final lap to confirm his superiority in the event and his readiness from now for the World Championships in Colombia this coming July, having already achieved the qualifying standard.
A second bronze
The haul was not limited to Mohanad’s gold – there was also a surprise new achievement from champion Abdulrahman Jamal Khasif, who won bronze in the hammer throw despite not being among the favourites for a top-three finish.
Khasif’s win came after a throw of 55.84 metres in the hammer, a fine personal best for our promising champion, who has excellent physical potential and is expected to have a big future in the event in the coming years.
This was Qatar’s second bronze, after Abduljalil Al Mannai’s bronze in the 110 metre hurdles on the first day.
Meanwhile, our decathlete Saad Al Mannai competed across the morning and evening sessions, taking part in the 100 metres, long jump and shot put in the morning, and the high jump and 400 metres in the evening.
Mariam Fareed, meanwhile, competed in the 400 metre hurdles semi-final, one of two events she will contest at the championships, with her second race being the 200 metre semi-final, scheduled for 9am Doha time.
Saad Al Mannai will continue his decathlon on Tuesday, starting with the 110 metre hurdles in the morning, followed by the discus and pole vault, then the 1500 metres in the evening. Our champion is working hard to produce his best performances in order to reach the podium among the top three in the final standings
Among the standout results, Egypt’s Shaimaa Al Saeed Farouk won gold in the girls’ 3000 metres in 10:34.89, while Libya’s Retaj Salem Al Saeh won discus gold with a throw of 51.64 metres, a new championship record, with the previous Arab record standing at 45.44 metres.
Tunisia’s Amal Haffaf also won gold in the 5000 metre race walk in 27:09.06, her compatriot Ahmed Helmi Al Jalassi won long jump gold with a leap of 7.06 metres, and Iraq’s Muntadhar Faleh Abdulwahid took pole vault gold, clearing 4.40 metres.
