Qatari athletes get season off to a flying start at Doha Diamond League

Qatari athletes proved to be in roaring form during the season-opening IAAF Diamond League at the Qatar Sports Club.

Much to the delight of an adoring home crowd, two athletes — high-jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim and 400M hurdler Abdulrahman Samba — won their respective events while Asian champion sprinter Femi Seun Ogunode clinched third place in the 100M dash. It was Qatari athletes’ best-ever performance at the competition, reported Gulf Times.

For Mutaz, it was his first-ever win in front of home fans. He leaped to 2.36M to claim the title. Robbie Grabarz of Great Britain finished second with a jump of 2.31 while Bahamas’s Donald Thomas took third position with 2.29.

“We came here to take two targets — the win and the lead. I got that so I don’t want to exhaust myself. I’ll be in Shanghai in five days so I’m hoping for the best,” Barshim was quoted as saying by The Peninsula.

Samba lived up to the high expectations placed on him and won the men’s 400M hurdles in 48.44sec. He finished ahead of USA’s Kerron Clement (49.40) and South Africa’s Van Zyl (49.49).

“I competed against champions and this is such an honour. The focus is now on the IAAF World Championships in London and I’m very happy with the outcome,” said the rising Qatari star.

Meanwhile Femi (10.13sec) smashed through a challenging field to finish a sizzling third in men’s 100M sprint. South Africa's Akani Sambine won the race in 9.9sec while Jamaican Asafa Powell was second (10.08).

Clutching his left thigh and struggling to stand or walk soon after the race, the 25-year-old said, “I pulled my hamstring a week ago but I wanted to run this here at the first competition. I’m a lion, I ran with it,” Qatar Tribune reported him as saying.

“Just watch out, Femi's back!” he said triumphantly.