World Athletics Championships in Berlin 2009
“Qatari runner Kwalia” qualifies for the 5000m final and sets up a date with the big names
“Shaheen” fails to secure a place among the big names as fear of injury threatens his future
“Mubarak Shami” prepares for the historic marathon challenge tomorrow
Qatari runner James Kwalia qualified yesterday for the 5000m final at the World Athletics Championships, currently under way in the German capital Berlin from August 15-23. Kwalia finished third in the second qualifying heat, 
clocking 13:23.57. Ugandan runner Moses Kipsiro topped the heat in 13:22.98, and Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge finished runner-up in 13:23.34. Qatar’s world champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen, a steeplechase specialist returning from injury, meanwhile failed to secure a place among the finalists in the first heat, finishing 11th in a race that moved at a fast pace led by the legendary Bekele, who took sole command on the final lap, clocking 13:19.77. American runner Matthew Tegenkamp finished runner-up in 13:19.87, followed by British runner Mohamed Farah in third with 13:19.94. It is worth noting that Shaheen was competing for the first time since 2005 in a major world championship following the severe injury that had kept him off the international scene, and he has since been held captive by fear of re-injury, which was clearly evident in yesterday’s race, where he could have kept pace with the leading pack, which would have required him to double his effort in the decisive final laps. The 5000m final is scheduled for the closing day next Sunday, amid expectations of a fierce battle between the legendary Bekele, Kwalia and a large group of contenders.
Shami steps up his marathon preparations
Meanwhile, Qatari runner Mubarak Shami stepped up his intensive, serious preparations for the historic marathon showdown at the 12th World Athletics Championships in Berlin, training daily on the marathon route, which for the first time starts and finishes in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the historic symbol of the city of Berlin. Long-distance runners then take in a real tour of the city’s landmarks: Potsdamer Platz, the embassy district, the Victory Column, the government district, the Chancellery, the Reichstag building, Museum Island, the great cathedral, and points along the way before taking the great linden-tree boulevard, Unter den Linden, back to the Brandenburg Gate. Runners have to complete this circular loop, a little over ten kilometres long, four times before the winner of the title of greatest of marathons is decided.
Affected by the failure of the Saudi runners… Prince Nawaf sounds the alarm
“We are competing with a group of young, inexperienced athletes”
Prince Nawaf bin Mohammed, president of the Saudi Athletics Federation, sounded the alarm yesterday for his country’s teams following a series of setbacks, stressing the need to find a new generation of athletes and build high-level competitors so that Saudi athletics can regain its shine and prominence internationally.
Prince Nawaf said, “The World Championships currently under way in Berlin have shown us the need to find a new generation of athletes and build competitors at the right level so that Saudi athletics can regain its shine and prominence internationally.”
Commenting on Saudi athletics’ disappointing results so far in the championships, Prince Nawaf explained, “We have not achieved good results so far, because we are fielding athletes competing in a world championship for the first time, which is a good opportunity for exposure and preparation for the future.”
Prince Nawaf added, “We still have a say and compete strongly at both Arab and Asian level, and all we hope for is to build a generation of young athletes capable of ensuring continuity on every front.”
It should be noted that the Saudi athletes have so far failed to get past the first round of the events they have entered, the latest being Khalid Al Salhi’s exit from the first round of the 800m yesterday.
He added, “The other athletes have also not achieved the hoped-for results so far due to their limited abilities and poor preparation for the championships,” noting that “the reckoning will be tough and we need to find a new generation and build high-level competitors to make up for the others’ failures and put Saudi Arabia back on the path to victory.”
Prince Nawaf expressed hope that Mohammed Salman Al Khuwaildi and Hussein Taher Al Sabe would achieve a good result in the long jump.
Moroccan and Arab fans are used to seeing their athletes on the podium
World champion El Guerrouj stunned by the modest results of Arab athletes at the World Championships
Former world and Olympic champion, Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, currently in Berlin at the invitation of the IAAF and taking part in the medal ceremonies, expressed his astonishment and deep regret that none of his three compatriots — Amine Laalou, Mohammed Moustaoui and Abdelati Iguider — managed to reach the podium in the 1500m final.
El Guerrouj, who won the world title four times running (a record), said, “I am very sad that the three Moroccan runners missed an irreplaceable opportunity. I am sad because I had hoped to see the Moroccan flag raised high and the national anthem played at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, especially as I had the honour of presenting the medals to the winners.”
El Guerrouj, who achieved the historic double at the Athens Olympics (1500m and 5000m), added, “I am also sad because Moroccan and Arab fans are used to seeing their athletes crowned in this event, and there was a real chance to reclaim the world title in a race that was for many years a Moroccan stronghold.”
El Guerrouj, holder of the world record for the event (3:26.00), said Laalou had been strongly tipped to win gold, but the latter “made a grave, basic mistake by staying at the back and not taking the initiative, or at least he should have stayed close to the front, because it turned out in the end that he could not make up the deficit, having been about 15 metres off the pace.” El Guerrouj noted that the world champion, Bahrain’s Yusuf Saad Kamel, an 800m specialist like Laalou, approached the final the same way he had run the quarter-final and semi-final. Hicham El Guerrouj, three-time consecutive world athlete of the year (also a record), felt the race “was wide open, and the Moroccan runners, especially Laalou, had ample chances to win the gold medal, which slipped away in the blink of an eye.” El Guerrouj expressed deep regret at the lack of a collective tactic that could have helped one of the Moroccan runners reach the top of the podium, saying, “We have not yet embraced this culture, because every runner races alone and defends his own chances of a medal.”
He felt the Moroccan runners should have run “a tactical race, with one of them sacrificing his own chances so that Amine could win, as happened before at the 1999 World Championships in Seville and the 2001 championships in Edmonton.”
It should be noted that Moustaoui, Laalou and Iguider finished sixth, tenth and eleventh respectively.
Tension and nervous strain caused his injury
Setback for Cuban runner Dayron… he lost the hurdles battle
World champion Cuban runner Dayron Robles, holder of the 110m world record and Olympic title, suffered a heavy blow after being knocked out in the semi-final by a muscle strain that put him out of contention, squandering a golden opportunity to claim the title after being widely tipped for it.
Robles pulled up after just three hurdles and fell to the ground in pain, clutching his left thigh.
There had already been doubts over Robles’s participation in the semi-final because of the same injury he suffered the day before yesterday, but the Cuban team’s technical director, Javier Sotomayor, announced late yesterday that his compatriot would take part in the semi-final because he was suffering “mild muscle pain in his thigh, but there is no danger and he is able to compete.” Robles had hoped to add the world title to the Olympic title he won in Beijing last year, with defending champion China’s Liu Xiang absent through injury.
Won precious gold for the Germans
Harting bares his teeth at the last gasp
German giant Robert Harting (24), runner-up at the previous edition in Osaka 2007, won the discus gold, baring his teeth on the last throw of the discus final to hand his country a precious medal. Robert owed his triumph to his sixth and final attempt, in which he recorded 69.43 metres, snatching first place from Poland’s Piotr Malachowski, who had dominated the competition since his very first attempt with a throw of 69.15 metres.
The bronze medal went to Estonia’s Gerd Kanter, the defending champion and Beijing Olympic champion, with a throw of 66.88 metres.
Two-time world champion (2003 and 2005) and two-time Olympic champion (2000 and 2004), Lithuania’s Virgilijus Alekna (37), finished fourth with 66.36 metres.
