Qatar’s Owaab Barrow (centre) in action during the Men’s 100 Metres Preliminary Round at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, yesterday.
Qatar’s Owaab Barrow who made it to the second round of the 100m heats of the IAAF World Championships is hoping that the ‘experience’ he gained by competing against some of the top guns of athletics will help in his career advancement.
The 18-year-old, who made it to the second stage from the preliminary round, was not at his best in the next stage and finished last in the fifth heat.
Earlier, in the first round, Owaab, an Aspire Academy product, had clocked a personal best of 10.64 to make it past the preliminary round.
“It was a good experience for me to run. I am still a first year junior and to run at the World Championships among the elite and top athletes is a great experience, even to be around them. It is my country, and I was focussed on doing my best and running a personal best,” Barrow, who won the men’s 110m hurdles gold during the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina last year, said.
Owaab, whose personal best was 10.65, finished third in the preliminary round to qualify but in the second round he could not sustain the same level of fluency and speed as a result he was no where near his best.
The teenager has been training hard for the championship and he thanked all his coaches and officials who have been part of his training so far.
“I have been training with my coach Lee Christopher. He is part of the Aspire Academy and the national team, and this year has been about preparing and training for different competitions. We have been to South Africa and Germany.”
Owaab now hopes to put all his experience to good use in the coming years at the junior and also at the senior level.
“Next year, hopefully, we have the World Juniors 2020 in Kenya, and let’s hope for the best and hopefully I will compete in the event,” he added.
