From left: Britain's Rio Mitcham with compatriot Charles Dobson, Belgium’s Dylan Borlee with compatriot Alexander Doom and Qatar’s Ammar Ismail Yahia Ibrahim with compatriot Ashraf Hussen Osman compete in the race. AFP
Doha, Qatar: Qatar’s men’s 4x400m team failed to qualify for the final at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China yesterday. The quartet of Abderrahman Samba, Bassem Hemeida, Ashraf Hussen Osman and Ammar Ismail Yahia Ibrahim finished third in the heats, missing out on a chance to secure early qualification for the World Championships, set to be held in Tokyo this September.
While Qatar missed their first opportunity to qualify, they will have a second shot today. All non-finalists will compete in additional qualifying heats, with the top two from each of the three groups securing World Championships berths.
In case they fail to secure Tokyo 2025 spots from Guangzhou, Qatar can also qualify based on their position in the top performance lists during the qualification window, which runs from February 25, 2024, to August 24, 2025. Only two teams from the top lists from each event will make the cut.
Qatar's Abderrahman Samba in action during the heat.
On the opening day in Guangzhou, quotas were on offer to the top two teams in each heat in every relay event (except the 4x100m). The two teams also made the finals and will race for World Championships lane seeding and medals today.
It was a thrilling three-way battle between Belgium, Great Britain and Qatar in heat 3. The three teams were within one stride of each other going into the final leg.
Qatar’s Ammar Ismail Yahia Ibrahim tried to force his way between Belgium’s Alexander Doom and Britain’s Charlie Dobson but was ultimately unsuccessful. The latter two ran side by side down the home straight as Belgium took the win in 3:01.35, 0.03 ahead of Britain. Qatar finished in 3:03.97.
