Qatar's Abderrahman Samba poses with his bronze medal.
Doha, Qatar: Abderrahman Samba yesterday stayed on track to bag a second medal at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after the Qatar men’s 4x400 metres team advanced to the final in an impressive manner.
The Qatari quartet of Samba, Ammar Ismail, Bassem Hemeida and Ismail Abakar clocked a time of 3:00.15 minutes to set a new national record, finishing just behind South Africa, who topped the heat with a time of 2:58.81 minutes.
From left: Qatar’s Ismail Abakar, Abderrahman Samba, Bassem Hemeida and Ammar Ismail react after qualifying for the men’s 4x400m relay final. AFP
The Netherlands also qualified from the same heat, posting a season-best time of 3:00.23 minutes, while the formidable US team failed to advance, finishing in a disappointing sixth place.
Speaking after the heats, Samba expressed his pride in the team’s achievement.
“The team ran as one unit, and we succeeded in achieving our goal of reaching the final,” Samba said.
“This was our first time competing in the 4x400m relay at the World Championships, so qualification was our top priority,” the Asian champion said.
Samba explained that the team’s strategy was to conserve energy for the final, but emphasised that the team will aim for a podium spot.
“The final will be highly competitive, but we are determined to fight for a medal and a place on the podium despite the tough field,” Samba added.
Samba, on Friday, clinched his second World bronze medal following the heroics in front of his home crowd back in 2019. The formidable 30-year runner finished behind gold winner Rai Benjamin of the US, and Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos to round out the podium.
“This is the result of years of hard work and effort. I had been away for a long time and had suffered from injuries, but I managed to return after putting in a great deal of effort in training,” Samba, who clocked a season-best time of 47.06 seconds in a stacked field, said.
In today’s relay final, Qatar join an elite line-up which also includes Botswana, Belgium, Great Britain & Northern Ireland, South Africa, Jamaica, Portugal, Japan and the Netherlands.
