Gold for Qatar’s Haroun, Moaaz at IAAF U-20 Worlds, bronze for Hamdi

Qatar finished a creditable ninth in the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) Under-20 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

The event, being held for the first time under the new name (the previous being the IAAF World Junior Championships), saw some stunning performances from Qatari athletes.

Abdalelah Haroun, a World Indoor silver medallist, won the 400M with a season’s best timing of 44.81. It was a sensational run from the 19-year-old Qatari, who pushed US’ Will London and Botswana’s Karabo Sibanda to second and third positions respectively.

A great start helped Haroun take a big lead early and he never let go of it.

“It’s the first time I started a race so fast. I almost killed myself in this race but now I’m very happy,” he said after the title win.

Sibanda, drawn in lane one, gave him a strong challenge in the final. The Qatari began quickly and Sibanda kept pace with him. He was neck-and-neck with Haroun heading into the home straight, but then began to toil.

“I went all out in the first 200M and in the last straight I felt dizzy. I couldn’t see anything in the last 50M,” said Sibanda, who faded into third in 45.45.

US junior champion London ran the most even-paced race of the three medallists, picking off Sibanda in the closing metres to claim silver in 45.27.

Mohamed Ibrahim Moaaz was a surprise gold medallist for Qatar in discus throw. He effectively ended the final as a contest with his very first throw. He unleashed a whopping heave of 63.63M to take command and never relinquished the lead. 

Despite fouling his remaining three attempts, that proved good enough for gold, giving him victory over Poland’s Oskar Stachnik and Belarus’s Hleb Zhuk.

“I can’t even describe the feeling right now,” said Moaaz, who is now turning his attention to success at senior level. “Next year I’ll surprise you.”

Though Moaaz only ranked as an outsider for the title on Sunday afternoon, there were signs the Qatari 17-year-old could cause an upset. He had conquered the best throwers on his continent at the Asian Junior Championships in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, last month, throwing a best of 60.49M, and in Bydgoszcz he duly conquered the world.

In qualifying on Saturday, he added more than half a metre to his PB when throwing 62.79M.

As he entered the throwing circle for his first attempt during Sunday’s final, however, few of his rivals could have expected what was to come as he sent the discus spinning high, sailing well past the 60M line to the gasps of the crowd.

High jumper Mohamad Allamine Hamdi won Qatar’s final medal at the competition, a bronze. He cleared 2.23M on his third attempt to enter the podium. Cuba’s Luiz Enrique Zayas (2.27M) and USA’s Darius Carbin (2.25) finished first and second respectively.

Image courtesy: iaaf.org