Doha: President of the Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) Mohammed Issa Al Fadala heaped praise on Mutaz Barshim who ended his journey in Paris as the greatest Olympic high jumper after bagging a bronze medal. The 33-year-old finished third behind gold medalist Hamish Kerr of New Zealand and America’s McEwen Shelby in the final to clinch his fourth medal at Olympics. Barshim had won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, adding to his silver medals at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games.
The feat made him the most decorated high jumper in the Olympic history after he claimed an unprecedented three World Athletics Championships titles in a row. “Perhaps it is easy for any athlete to become an Olympic champion but it is difficult to become Barshim. A complete athlete in every sense of the word and his bronze tastes like gold,” the QAF President said in a statement.
“Barshim is a legacy for future generations and a great incentive for the entire Qatari athletics family to always continue to be at the top,” he said before thanking Qatar Olympic Committee President H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani for his “great support” towards the athletes. The lanky athlete will not take part in the 2028 Los Angeles Games but he said he will continue representing Qatar in major championships in the near future. Barshim’s bronze in his Olympic swansong was the only medal for Team Qatar, who participated with 14 athletes at the Paris Games, which concluded yesterday.
There were disappointments for Qatar’s other medal contenders including weightlifter Fares Ibrahim, who failed to win his second straight Olympic gold medal after winning in the 96kg class in Tokyo. He struggled in the recently-created 102kg class after suffering from an elbow injury during the event. Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan did also not succeed in retaining their Olympic bronze in men’s beach volleyball after losing the third place play-off against Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum on Saturday night.
Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba, who struggled with injuries in his Olympic build up, reached the men’s 400m hurdles final where he finished sixth. There were some encouraging performance from youngsters including Bassem Hemeida, who twice registered his personal best times in the men’s 400m hurdles. Qatari sprinter Ammar Ismail [Yahia Ibrahim] also showed he has a bright future ahead achieving his personal best in the men’s 400m competition.
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