Officials of Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) gearing up for the 14th GCC Athletics Championships which will begin at Khalifa Stadium today. Around 200 athletes are likely to take part in the three-day meet. Qatar will attempt to better their tally of eight medals picked up at the last GCC edition held in Saudi Arabia two years ago. RIGHT: Qatar’s London Games star Mutaz Barshim. BELOW, RIGHT: Logo of the 14th GCC Athletics Championships. INSET: Dahlan Al Hamad (left), President, Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) and Fahad Al Hajri, Media Director at QAF and another official during an inspection at Khalifa Stadium yesterday.
DOHA: Qatar’s London Games star Mutaz Barshim, who won a bronze in the high jump, will be the centre of attention at the 14th GCC Athletics Championships which begin at Khalifa Stadium today.
The region’s best athletes - expected number to be more than 200 - have arrived for the three-day meet that will help jump start the athletics jamboree in the Qatari capital in the next 30 days.
Later this month, the Qatar Atheltics Federation (QAF) will stage the Heir Apparent Athletics Cup and the Emir Athletics Cup events.
On May 10, the QAF will assemble top names like Yohan Blake of Jamaica and David Rudhisha of Kenya for the one-day Samsung Diamond League season-opener at Qatar Sports Club Stadium.
For the time being, Qatar will attempt to better their tally of eight medals picked up at the last GCC edition held in Saudi Arabia two years ago, Dahlan Al Hamad, President, QAF.
Mutaz is set to lead a group of more than 50 athletes representing Qatar at the three-day event.
The QAF president said more than 200 athletes from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman will join Qatari track and field names at the April 8-10 event.
The three-day championships will be held at Khalifa Stadium, Al Hamad said.
This will be the second time that Qatar would be hosting the regional showpiece athletics championships after 1986.
Qatar secured second place in the 13th GCC Athletics Championship for men and fourth in the GCC Athletics Championship for juniors staged in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 2011.
Some 350 athletes from six GCC nations competed in various disciplines during the four-day championships.
Qatar bagged eight medals including 5 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronze to finish in second place behind hosts Saudi Arabia.
Abu Baker Ali Kamal clinched gold medal in 3000m steeplechase while Barshim grabbed the high jump gold.
“Mutaz will be the biggest name for the hosts at the GCC Athletics Championships,” Al Hamad said in a press conference last month.
Mutaz, 21, was one of three bronze winning athletes in the men’s high jump final at the imposing Olympic Stadium on August 7 last year. The young Qatari won the bronze in front of 80,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium. Mohamed Suleiman was the first Qatari to win a medal at the Olympic Games, bagging a bronze in the men’s 1500m final in 1992 (Barcelona)
Last year, Mutaz became the second Qatari to win a medal in track and field events at the Olympic Games.
“Qatar will have more than 50 athletes competing in different events,” Al Hamad said yesterday.
Despite Mutaz being the talk of the town, Al Hamad said QAF refrains from putting pressure on their athletes to win medals.
“Our federation tries to support them, prepare them for the big events and bring the athletes to the starting blocks, so as to say,” Al Hamad said.
“We don’t put them under pressure. We give them every support and then let them be on their own in competition so they are able to give their best,” he added.
Junior athletes from the region will also compete in various disciplines, Al Hamad said.
THE PENINSULA
