Dubai: The sun set on the UAE's only medal hope at the 12th IAAF World Championships, Omar Juma Bilal Al Salfa, when he was sent packing from the 200-metre event on Tuesday night, but UAE Athletics Federation (UAEAF) chiefs believe the 19-year-old's stunning quarterfinal run heralds a new dawn for athletics in the country.
Al Salfa's super show in Berlin helped him scale 58 places in the 200 world rankings and he made the jump from world No. 86 to 28. In addition, he made history by becoming the first Arab athlete to qualify for the quarterfinals of a sprint event in a world championship.
His dream ended as he clocked 20.97 seconds, finishing 0.6s behind American Shawn Crawford who took first place in Heat 2. Briton Marlon Devonish and Honduran Rolando Palacios also qualified for the semis having finished second and third.
Ahmad Al Kamali, the President of the UAE AF, who travelled with Al Salfa to Berlin, was thrilled with his sprinter's effort, but what he really wants now is for the UAE to build upon that momentum and move forward. And getting six athletes to qualify for the 2012 Olympics "on the basis of merit" is now top on his agenda.
"Omar's performance was brilliant and it exceeded all expectations. We know he is good and we have a lot of hope from him. This is a big achievement for the UAE because our efforts have paid dividends and our agenda is now to focus on the forthcoming competitions like the 2010 Asian Games and at the 2012 Olympics, where we hope to have six track and field athletes qualify on the basis of merit," Kamali told Gulf News from Berlin.
"We have a lot of events coming up like the GCC Championships in October, followed by the Oceania and Asian Indoor Championships in the same month, so it's quite a busy schedule. Our main aim is to perform well in the Asian Games and get as many athletes as possible into the 2012 Olympic Games."
Sa'ad Al Mehri, the General Secretary of the UAEAF, said he wants to see Al Salfa and the rest of the UAE's athletes take their performance a step further. "A lot of efforts are being put to achieve success and Al Salfa's performance shows we have made good progress over the years, now it's time for our athletes to start delivering," Al Mehri said.
