Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba will hope to bag Qatar’s first medal in Paris when he will take part in the men’s 400m hurdles final today. AFP
Doha: Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba will look to clinch Qatar’s first medal at the ongoing Olympic Games in Paris as he will compete in the men’s 400m hurdles final at the Stade de France tonight.
The two-time Asian Games champion entered the final as the next two fastest athletes after clocking 48.20 secs in Wednesday’s semi-finals.
The 28-year-old will be required to bring significant improvement in his performance to reach his maiden Olympic podium as he will be up against the likes of defending champion Karsten Warholm and America’s Rai Benjamin in the final, featuring a strong field.
The race will take place at 10:45pm (Doha time) tonight.
While Samba will be only Qatari athlete competing in Paris today, Al Annabi fans will be hoping to see their Tokyo medalists on the podium tomorrow.
Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim during the high jump qualification round.
Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim will lead the charge as he will compete in the men’s high jump final scheduled to begin at 8pm tomorrow.
Seeking a second successive Olympic gold, Barshim eased into the final after clearing 2.27m despite an injury scare during the qualification round.
The three-time world champion will face the challenge of his close friend Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy with whom he famously shared a gold medal at the Tokyo Games. South Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo and New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr will be among the other main title contenders.
Also hoping to emulate his Tokyo achievement tomorrow, Fares Ibrahim will take part in the 102kg weightlifting event targeting his second straight Olympic gold.
Fares Ibrahim
Ibrahim became Qatar’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist when he won the 96kg category title at the Tokyo Games. The event is scheduled to start at 12:30pm.
Qatar’s top beach volleyball duo Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will also look to match their Tokyo bronze medal show tomorrow when they will meet Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum in the third-place play-off.
They were denied a place in the final by Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, who defeated them in the semi-final last night.
