Qatar’s Seif Mohamed competes in the men's pole vault qualifying round.
Doha: Qatari pole vaulter Seif Mohamed set a new national record on his way to advancing to the final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo yesterday.
Competing in Group B, the two-time Arab champion cleared the bar at 5.75m to join the likes of Swedish world record holder Armand Duplantis, two-time world champion Sam Kendricks of the US, Greek Emmanouil Karalis, French former Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie and Norwegian Sondre Mogens Guttormsen in tomorrow’s final at the National Stadium in Tokyo.
Mohamed made the opening mark of 5.40m in his first attempt, and then went on to better 5.55m and 5.70m in the second attempt of each mark, before clearing the bar at 5.75m in his third attempt to secure his place among the world’s best.
The new personal best achievement and qualification to the World final also marked a significant milestone for the 20-year-old, who was recognised as the Best U-20 Athlete of Asia at the Asian Athletics Association Awards held in May.
Top favourite Duplantis, who has been on a world record-setting spree over the past months, had a smooth qualifying as he easily made the final in just two jumps, same as Paris 2024 Olympics bronze winner Karalis. Veteran Lavillenie, a five-time World Championship podium winner, struggled initially, needing a third jump to clear 5.70m, but ultimately managed to advance.
Guttormsen and Kendricks also cleared the 5.75 mark in their first attempts to join the final 12.
In the meantime, several notable athletes were eliminated, including John Obiena of the Philippines and Belgium’s Ben Broeders.
Asian champion Ammar Ismail in action today
Qatar’s reigning Asian champion Ammar Ismail will compete in the heats of the men’s 400 metres at the National Stadium today.
Ismail, who delivered Asia’s best time of the season at the Voor Mon Meeting in Belgium last month, clocking 44.90 seconds, will run in Heat 5 of the preliminaries at 1.07 pm Qatar time.
