Oumar wins silver as Qatar finish with six medals

Aspire Academy athlete Oumar Doudai Abakar won silver in the 110m hurdles on the final day of the Asian Under-20 Athletics Championships in Yecheon, South Korea, on Wednesday. Qatar finished their campaign with three gold and two silver.Oumar, who is coached by Aspire Academy’s Lee Christopher, recovered from a slow start in the final to finish behind Chinese Taipei’s Yuan Kai Hsieh. His time of 13.68 seconds was a new personal best, which he ran despite sustaining a minor hamstring injury in the heats.In the same final Aspire Academy student-athlete Nayef al-Rashidi was initially given fifth place but was later disqualified for a false start.Oumar’s brother Ismail, who trains with the Qatar Athletics Federation, had won gold in both the 400m and 400m hurdles to go with the one claimed by Seif Hemeida in the pole vault on the opening day. The other medal won at the championships was a silver by Djibrine Adoum Ahmat in shot put."Congratulations to Qatar Athletics Federation and Aspire Academy’s coaches on some exceptional performances in Yecheon,” Aspire’s Head Athletics Coach Tom Crick said. "Qatar finishing the competition with three gold and 2 silver is a testament to the hard work day in and day out from coaches, officials and support staff throughout the 2023 season.”"Oumar sustained a minor injury during his run in the heats and the team had to make a call during warm-up on whether he should start the final race. The team took the right decision and he produced a personal best as he won his silver. These performances in Korea are very positive for Qatar ahead of next year’s World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Peru.”