Doha: Qatar’s 400m hurdler Bassem Hemeida ended his campaign at the Olympic Games on a high note, marking a season’s best of 49.64 secs in repechage round at Stade de France in Paris on Tuesday. The performance bettered Hemeida’s time in Monday’s heat where he clocked 49.
82 secs. However, the athlete failed to secure a place in the semi-finals after finishing sixth in his repechage heat. Hemeida, who struggled with injuries this season, was satisfied with his performance.
“I thank Allah for my performance. Hopefully the results will be different in the next Olympics,” said Hemeida. “I couldn’t even run four months ago due to injury that affected my preparations.
I ran my personal best in heat and bettered it today which means there is still more to come. I want to thank the federation for their all-out support,” he added. Abderrahman Samba, who will feature in Wednesday’s semi-finals, is Qatar’s only medal hope left in the men’s 400m hurdles.
Also on Tuesday, Qatari sprinter Ammar Ismail [Yahia Ibrahim] achieved his personal best of 44.64 secs in the men’s 400m semi-finals before wrapping up his Olympic campaign. Ismail was also impressive in the heats setting 44.
66 secs that confirmed his berth for the next World Athletics Championships..