God willing, the 16th GCC Athletics Championship for men gets under way today, hosted at the field and track venue of King Abdullah Sports City (Al Jawhara) in the city of Jeddah, over the period 13-15 April, with the participation of our men’s national athletics team led by our Olympic champion Mutaz Barshim and the rest of his teammates, and the Qatari delegation, made up of “35 members”, arrived safely in the city of Jeddah, led by Khalifa Abdulmalik, board member and national teams director, and includes Khalid Al Marri as head of delegation, Khalifa Shaheen Al Dosari as administrator, in addition to the technical staff made up of Stanislav Sizirba, Pawel Sizirba, Ibrahim Babiker, Ramil Ganiev, Rashed Shafi Al Dosari, Efesa Jacqueline, Isi Marco Jiheni, Jame Mahmoud Aden, Abdi Bile, Yasser Al Sayyadi, Michel Christophe Lee, and the two officials Jamal Jumaa Al Mansouri and Abdulrahim Hassan, along with the medical and physiotherapy staff Sergey Beschkin and Branko Penki, and the list of players includes sprinters Ali Hassan Anbar and Saud Al Humaidi, 100m, 200m, Mohammed Nasser Abbas, 400m, Mohanad Khamis, 800m, 1500m, Jamal Hairan, 800m, Idris Moussa Yousuf, 1500m, Jamal Abdulnasser Abubaker, 400m hurdles, Moath Mohammed Ibrahim, Ahmed Deeb, discus throw, Ahmed Bdeir Majour, Mohammed Ibrahim Qaida, javelin, Ashraf Al Saifi, Ahmed Al Saifi, hammer throw, Mutaz Barshim, Hamdi Al Amin, high jump, Rashed Al Manai, Hamdi Al Amin, triple jump, Mohammed Ahmed Al Manai, decathlon, pole vault, Abdullah Hassan Al Rubaie, decathlon, Mabrouk Saleh, Hassan Muthanna Khairy, Abdullah Nasser Al Hashidi, race walk, in addition to the 4x100m and 4x400m relay quartets.
Action gets under way today
Separately, today sees the start of the Gulf challenge’s competitions, with the shot put final, long jump, javelin throw, 100m semi-finals, pole vault final, 400m semi-finals, 110m hurdles semi-finals, 10,000m final, 100m final, 400m final, 110m hurdles final, and 4x100m relay final all being held, while tomorrow, Friday, afternoon will see the start of the decathlon’s 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, the 400m hurdles final, triple jump, discus throw, 3000m steeplechase, and 800m. The athletics Gulf championship’s competitions will conclude next Saturday, featuring the finals of the 10km race walk, hammer throw, high jump, 200m, 1500m, 5000m, 4x400m relay, in addition to the decathlon’s final round of 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500m.
Talal chairs the technical meeting
The championship’s technical committee held its official meeting yesterday, chaired by Talal Mansour, board member and technical delegate for the Gulf championship, attended by Khalid Al Marri, board member and team manager, alongside members of the Qatari national team’s technical staff and the rest of the participating teams, where all technical and organisational aspects of the championship were discussed, and the entry lists, competition schedule and bar heights were approved, along with naming the members of the appeals and jury committees and other matters on the technical meeting’s agenda.
Jeddah ready
For its part, the championship’s high committee, chaired by Brigadier Hadi bin Bakr Al Qahtani, president of the Saudi Arabian Athletics Federation, has completed its serious preparations for the launch of the 16th Gulf 16 Athletics Championship,
with the Saudi federation seeking to organise a distinguished event, in keeping with the Kingdom’s great capabilities in organising championships and tournaments at all levels, while King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah has seen the finishing touches put in place for the launch of the championship, with all committees present to prepare the track, the warm-up areas, the players’ rooms, and the area designated for the “hammer throw” event, while the Saudi Sports Channel has completed its preparations to broadcast the first day of the championship live.
