Mohammed Alsayed-Doha
Qatari runner Abdul Rahman Samba is living his best season ever, with all the races he has won in 2019 and qualifying for the 400 meters hurdles final at the world athletics championships in Doha.
In addition to his brilliance, Samba is going strong with the rest of his teammates in the Qatari team, which started to impose his dominance in Asia and put his mark among the giants or the global games, with a very young generation, led by Moataz Barsham, world champion in the high jump competition.
Samba recently led Qatar to the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha in April, and was able to win the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles, having made a spectacular display and surpassed all rivals, setting a new Asian record of 47.51 seconds. .
Samba hopes to achieve his dream of crowning gold, and make up for the failure of London 2017, to continue to achieve titles this season, especially that the victory will not come easily, as it will be at the expense of two big champions: Norwegian Carsten and Stockholm, the best qualifier in 48.28 seconds, note that his personal number is 46.92 Seconds, American Ray Benjamin and his personal number 46.98 seconds.
The Qatari runner, who won the Shanghai tournament in May in 47.27 seconds, dreamed of repeating his compatriot Barsham's 2017 World Cup flag at the London Olympic Stadium and won his first gold medal in the world.
The 24-year-old Samba has the third best time in the history of the 400-meter hurdles in 46.98 seconds and is the only one along with US world record holder Kevin Yang (46.78 seconds) and Benjamin Warholm, who have been under 47 seconds since August 6. 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics.
| Samba (center) during the 400m hurdles at the Doha World Cup (Reuters) |
"Will is a word that expresses my personality and describes my career. It gives me the courage to take on challenges and overcome the obstacles that life puts on my way to realize my dream." With these words, Samba describes the competition for the title of the 400 meters hurdles in the World Cup in Qatar, in the presence of strong competitors, and legitimate aspirations of everyone to win.
Samba told Al Jazeera Net that the World Cup is the most important in his career so far, so he seeks to win the gold medal, with the support of everyone, especially the masses who will come to support him in the final.
He emphasizes that he loves the challenges, which motivates him to always give the best in every race, to achieve the achievements and titles in each tournament.
Samba took part in the last world athletics championships in London 2017, but was disappointed after hitting a barrier, delayed and lost hope of climbing to the podium.
In turn, Dahlan Al Hamad, Vice Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee and Director of the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, wished good luck to the runner Abdul Rahman Samba, and to give a smile to the Qatari people in this global event that is proud of Qatar.
| Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the opening ceremony of the World Athletics World Cup with the President of the International Federation of the game (right) and the President of the International Olympic Committee (left) (Getty Images) |
Alhamd says to Al Jazeera Net that his confidence in Tawfiqullah is great, as well as in the will of Samba and his ability to win, especially in light of his performance in the qualifiers.
Al-Hamad, who holds the AFC presidency and vice-president of the International Federation, stresses that the competition is going well and the atmosphere is perfect, which reflected on the performance of the world champions and their numbers in most races and competitions.
He believes that the technical level of the World Championship in Doha is very special, and is rising day by day, through the figures achieved in the qualifying qualifiers in various competitions.