Tokyo: Qatar’s two-time world champion Mutaz Barshim lived up to the high expectations and qualified for the final of Men’s High Jump event at Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
In the qualifications held at the Olympic Stadium on Friday, Barshim cleared 2.28m to secure his spot in the finals to be staged on Sunday.
A bronze medallist in 2012 and silver medallist in 2016, the 30-year-old Barshim is seeking to win Qatar’s first ever Olympic gold.
“I’ve been waiting for five years for this,” Barshim said. “It’s the one I want, and I’ll do what it takes to make it happen.” He added.
For his part, Qatar’s 400m hurdler Abderrahman Samba qualified for the semifinals. Samba won the first heat of Round 1 with a time of 48.38 seconds on Friday.
Brazil’s Alison dos Santos finished second ahead of Algeria’s Abdelmalik Lahoulou and Jamaica’s Kemar Mowatt in the fourth place.
The semifinals will be held on Sunday, with the final showdown taking place two days later.
Bashayer Al Manwari took the sixth place in Heat 1 of Women’s 100m Preliminary Round on Friday to celebrate her first appearance at the Olympic Games with a new personal best of 13.12 seconds
Tala Abujbara won her E final in 8:00:22 minutes to finish overall 25th. In her final race held at the Sea Forest Waterway, Tala led the standings ahead of Uganda’s Kathleen Grace Noble and Nicaragua’s Evidelia Gonzalez.
Qatar’s sprinter Femi Ogunode will begin his quest in Men’s 100m event on Saturday.
Ogunode confirmed that he is ready for the Olympics by winning the gold medals of 100m and 200m events event at 2021 Arab Athletics Championships last June.
Ogunode made history when he was selected by the Association of National Olympic Committees in 2015 as the best male athlete in Asia. He also claimed the gold medal of 100m and 200m events at 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
The middle-distance runner Abubaker Haydar will participate in Men’s 800m heats on Saturday. Haydar secured his spot in 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games after finishing 4th in the 800m event in at Doha Diamond League 2019.
Fares Ibrahim Hassouna will be keen to prove a point when he begins his campaign in Men’s 96kg event on Saturday. Hassouna booked his ticket to Tokyo 2020 Olympics when he bagged two gold medals at 2019 Qatar International Cup Weightlifting Championships.
On the other hand, Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan put on another convincing performance to score an emphatic victory over USA’s Jake Gibb and Tri Bourne on Friday in the duel for the top of Pool C, as both teams had already secured their spots among the best 16.
Younousse and Tijan began their Olympic campaign with a 21-17, 21-16 victory over Adrian Heidrich and Mirco Gerson of Switzerland on Sunday then they edged past Italy’s Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi on Wednesday.
Source: Qatar Olympic Committee