Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba celebrates after winning the bronze medal in the men’s 400 metres hurdles final on Monday.
Adberrahman Samba was not even supposed to run at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 as he needed more time to recover from his hamstring injury, the star Qatari 400m hurdler revealed after clinching a podium finish, yesterday.
“This bronze medal is a gold medal for me. I didn’t expect to win but I ran here because it is a World Championships in Qatar and I wanted to be here,” Samba said after he finished behind the rest of sub 47 trio Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin.
In a tough final on Monday night at the Khalifa International Stadium, it was the Norwegian Warholm, who won the race in 47.42 – 0.24 clear of America’s Benjamin. Samba claimed the bronze medal in 48.03 following a strong late surge.
“I got the injury before the London Diamond League when I was meant to race the 400m flat– a muscle in my back. It was expected to take 10 to 12 weeks to recover but luckily in nine weeks I was recovered and able to win this medal. I consider this a big achievement,” said Samba before adding that he will now shift his focus to the new season, which includes the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I am now looking forward to the new season and will start training for it,” said the 24-year-old, who skipped the men’s 400m event, which started yesterday.
“May be in the future, but I am not ready to run the event at these World Championships,” he said.
Meanwhile, Warholm was delighted to be the winner among the ‘Terrific Trio’.
“I have a huge respect for my opponents. Samba beat me all last year so I feel very humbled to be in this company. But at the same time I always focus on my own journey. I don’t get stressed out by what other people do,” said the Norwegian.
“The biggest thing you can be is a champion. With everybody posting very good times I know there are crazy times coming and I will have to work very hard if I want to keep this thing going because these guys are going to be hunting for me. I’m not going to sleep,” he added.
‘After this, the sky’s the limit’
Benjamin, who also endured injuries during the build up for World Championships, was content with his effort to win a silver medal.
“It’s been a rough two weeks. I fell at practice about three weeks ago and I was unable to walk. I was on crutches. It turned out I had a pretty bad bone bruise,” said the American star.
“Coming into the championships I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to run. In fact, a few days before the first round I was thinking about scratching out of the entire meet.
“I came out each day trying to make it through the rounds, trying to survive. Luckily I was able to come out with the silver medal. I think it’s just a testament to overcoming adversity at my first major championships. After this, the sky’s the limit,” he said.
