Qatar's Abdalelah Haroun (C) in action in this file photo.
Doha: Team Asia-Pacific’s Qatari star Abdalelah Haroun produced yet another outstanding performance to take the men’s 400m title as the third IAAF Continental Cup concluded in Czech Republic yesterday.
Haroun clocked a time of 44.73 secs conclude the season with his ninth win in the season which include an amazing 14 podium victories. The 21-year-old Qatari athlete has reached the podium in all his appearances except on one occasion, when he took a false start during the Birmingham IAAF World Indoor Championships.
The Asian Games double gold medallist, competing for the continent this time, held off a final straight challenge from Team Africa’s Baboloki Thebe of Botswana, who finished second in 45.10. Nathan Strother of the United States came through to win the third place with a time of 45.28 ahead of the European champion Matthew Hudson-Smith who finished fourth in 45.72.
Haroun’s team-mate Muhammed Anas Yahiya of India, earned four points after finishing fifth in 45.72.
“It wasn’t my fastest time, but that didn’t matter here,” said Haroun who has a best of 44.54 this season.
“I just wanted to win my last race of the season. I will rest now for three weeks, and then I must train again because a big year is ahead – I will be competing at home in the IAAF World Championships,” the young Qatari runner said after adding eight points to the Team Asia-Pacific points tally yesterday.
“My mother said to me ‘this is your last race of the season, so don’t come home without winning,” Haroun told journalists at the Mestsky Stadion.
Earlier yesterday, Tajikistan’s 36-year-old Rio 2016 champion Dilshod Nazarov took sweet revenge on Qatar’s Ashraf Elseify by winning the men’s hammer throw.
Nazarov, who finished second behind Elseify at the recently concluded Asian Games in Indonesia, Nazarov took a first round lead of 75.05m, and kept on extending the lead with five successively longer throws which culminated at 77.34 metres.
Team Africa’s Egyptian hammer thrower Mostafa Elgamel cleared a distance of 74.22 to finish second while Europe’s Bence Halasz was placed third with 74.80.
Diego Del Real of Americas had a season’s best of 75.86 as the Qatari Asian Games gold medallist, Elseify was placed fifth after clearing 74.08 in his first attempt.
Elseify tried to surpass the mark in two more attempts, but only succeeded in clearing 73.87 and 72.55.
The Continental Cup, previously known as the World Cup of Athletics, gathers four continental teams with two athletes from each team in each event, except the relays.
Team America collected 262 points over the two days of the event in the eastern Czech city, topping defending champions Europe with 233 points, Asia-Pacific with 188 and Africa with 142.
Triple jumper Christian Taylor and sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo handed the Americas team a win on the second and final day after dominating their events and then leading the final mixed 4x400 metres relay to a win.
The reigning world champion Elijah Motonei Manangoi of Kenya won the 1,500m in 3min 40.00sec ahead of Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski and Norwegian teenage sensation Jakob Ingebritsen.
In the men’s 100 metres, Noah Lyles ended his season on a high, battling Su Bingtian of China and Team Asia-Pacific.
The US 100m champion overcame Su over his final five strides, clocking 10.01 to outplay the Chinese star by two hundreth of a second.
The reigning Olympic and European champion Thomas Rohler did what his team was expected from him in the men’s javelin throw and battled hard to finish with a best of 87.07m.
