Our promising 18-year-old champion Abdalelah Haroun reached the summit of world glory in his very first year of international competition at the World Athletics Championships currently held in the American city of Portland, which concluded on Sunday. The talented whirlwind Haroun claimed the world silver medal in the 400 m, taking second place in a time of 45.59 seconds in a race known as “the man-killer,” finishing ahead of many great champions .. our champion runner executed his world-class coach Jama’s plan with precision and the composure of a veteran, watching the race in its early stages before making up ground in the last 70 metres and passing several world-class runners on his way to seizing silver behind Czech runner Pavel Maslak, the gold medallist, in 45.44 seconds, while Trinidad and Tobago’s Deon Lendore took bronze in 46.17 seconds. Meanwhile Mutaz Barshim, the defending champion in the high jump, had to settle for fourth place with 2.29 m after suffering a hamstring strain during one of his attempts, after which he took the risk of raising the bar to 2.36 m but failed in his three attempts, leaving the title to Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi, who took top spot and claimed gold with a jump of 2.36 m, with Britain’s Robbie Grabarz runner-up on 2.33 m and American Eric Kynard third on 2.33 m on countback
The delegation receives congratulations
Our national athletics team delegation experienced moments filled with pride after promising champion Abdalelah was crowned with the silver medal, and Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, president of the Qatari and Asian federations and vice-president of the IAAF, made a call to the delegation to convey his congratulations to our talented champion, affirming that his achievement was one to be proud of, especially at such a major world championship, and Major General Al Hamad received numerous congratulations from a large number of federation presidents and fans of Qatari athletics
Khalifa Abdulmalik, head of the delegation, also received numerous congratulations on this fresh achievement by a promising champion considered a project for the future of Qatari athletics
Musaab in shock .. wastes the opportunity of a lifetime
There is no doubt that our world champion Musaab Abdulrahman wasted the opportunity of a lifetime to claim the gold medal in the 800 m final, committing a serious tactical error that cost him dearly, finishing in a position far below his qualities and abilities, given that observers and experts had agreed he was the favourite for gold .. but things did not go as Musaab had hoped, and he slipped back to fifth place in 1:48.31, while American runner Boris Berian took gold in 1:45.83, Burundi’s Antoine Gakeme finished runner-up in 1:46.65, American Erik Sowinski took third in 1:47.22, veteran Ethiopian Mohammed Aman finished fourth in 1:47.97, and Moroccan runner Mostafa Smaili finished sixth and last in 1:52.32. American runner Boris Berian imposed his control from the start of the race, holding the lead and leaving the rest of the field trailing behind him, alone at the front throughout the race’s four laps, sealing the contest in his favour while Musaab wasted a golden chance to win one of the race’s medals, having been at the peak of readiness and focus through the heats and semi-finals in ideal fashion, but poor judgement and imprecise execution of his race tactics handed American Berian the gold and little-known Burundian Gakeme the silver, knowing that Abdulrahman nearly fell in the final 300 m after being jostled from behind, stumbling slightly and losing his balance, which allowed Gakeme and American Erik the chance to move forward in an attempt to close in further on the leader, Berian, who successfully finished the race in his favour with great strength and focus, claiming the world gold
A world phenomenon
Talented runner Abdalelah Haroun has become a phenomenon in the world of athletics having climbed to the top quickly, achievement after achievement, having previously won the Asian indoor and outdoor titles and holding the world’s best time this year for 500 m, and yesterday he became the youngest world champion at 18 years old to stand on the podium, taking second place in a race considered the toughest and most gruelling for middle-distance runners, requiring willpower and determination to endure running hard over 400 m (two full laps of the track) in a single breath, with tremendous physical and mental focus
