The Peninsula
A full house buzzing with roaring spectators at the iconic Khalifa International Stadium and thrilling performances by the athletes marked the opening day of the historic IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 that began with the qualifying rounds.
Star Qatari hurdler Abderrahman Samba’s performance to top round 1 of the men’s 400m hurdles was icing on the cake for the host nation.
While the stage was being set for the first ever midnight women’s marathon at the Corniche, athletes began their quest for medals at the air-conditioned venue, producing impressive performances in qualifying rounds for 12 disciplines.
With the successful start of the championships, Qatar becomes the first country in the Middle East to host the athletics showpiece. On another positive note for Qatar, Samba, who was not regularly seen in action in the last few months, looked at his best as he outpaced rivals Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin to advance for today’s semi-final with a best time.
After clocking a time of 49.08s, Samba made his intention clear that he will not be only gunning for a gold medal, hinting at his attempt to a new world record.
“A gold or may be something else,” Samba said when asked about his chances in the event, hinting at breaking Kevin Young’s world record of 46.78 at the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992.
The 2018 Diamond League champion said he was satisfied with the start of his campaign.
“One has to be careful in the start so I am ok with today’s performance. With the result I am happy and I am looking for tomorrow,” said Samba before adding he had no pressure of competing against a tough line-up that includes reigning world champion Warholm and Rai, who also have clocked the sub 47 time.
“The World Championships is going to be amazing. Specially, the 400m hurdles because there are many big names who want to do something. It’s good to get more people in sub 47s. It makes you to race fast and improve,” he added.
Warholm, on the other hand, was also satisfied with his time of 49.27 that lent him third place behind Japan’s Takatoshi Abe (49.25).
“It was a solid run. I enjoyed it. Of course Samba is competing on his home soil so everybody will watch him and literally push him to the finish,” said Warholm.
“But also Rai is chasing me since Zurich and he wants to beat me. I don’t feel pressure and I do not think of the time too much but I just need to execute what I am supposed to do,” the Norwegian world champion added.
Rai, who is making his World debut, ran 49.62s to qualify for the final.
Meanwhile, in another anticipated event, USA’s Paul Chelimo topped men’s 5,000 final qualifying with a time of 13:20.18, making himself favourite for a gold medal in the event, dubbed as one of the most unpredictable contests at the Worlds post British legend Mo Farah era.
“The goal was about getting to the final and I think I managed the qualification well. Medal? I think it is going to be more about chasing fast time and focus. The final will be fun.” Chelimo said.
Ethiopia’s Telahun Haile Bekele (13.20.45) and Norway’s Filip Ingebrigtsen (13:20.45) finished second and third among the 10 qualifiers for the September 30 final.
Bekele said: This was a qualification race, so the main thing was to qualify. This is a learning progress.”
Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega, who won the first 5,000 heats and also qualified for the final, said: “I was running exactly as I planned. It was a slower start but safe in the finish. I will not watch any of my opponents in the final, just myself,” he added.
Today’s action at the Khalifa Stadium, includes the women’s hammer throw, long jump, women’s 10,000m and men’s 100m finals besides qualifications in nine disciplines.