Rio Games silver-medallist Mutaz Essa Barshim will lead Qatar’s challenge at the 16th World Athletics Championships, which will kick off today in London.
Five Qataris will take part in the championship. Apart from Barshim, holder of the high jump title at the Diamond League, Ashraf al-Saifi (hammer throw), Ahmed Bedair (havelin throw) and sprinters Abdulrahman Samba (400m hurdles) and Abdulilah Haroun (400m) will be in action.
All eyes will be on Barshim though. The 26-year-old’s form ahead of the World Championships has been good. He won gold at the Diamond League meets in Doha, Shanghai, Oslo and Paris. 
Barshim, who has a personal best of 2.43m, has been eyeing the long-standing record of 2.45 set by Cuban Javier Sotomayor in 1992. Barshim has come close to breaking Sotomayor’s record many times. A World Championships gold has eluded him all the time with the 2013 silver medal at Moscow being his best at the IAAF’s biennial event. 
The Qatar delegation, headed by secretary-general of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and Chairman of Qatar Athletics Federation Dr Thani Abdulrahman al-Kuwari will take part in the General Assembly meeting of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
The meeting is expected to take a number of important decisions, most notably the amendment of some articles of athletics international law, in addition to discussing performance and financial reports as well as adopting the plans for the coming years and other items on the agenda.
In a statement, al-Kuwari expressed his pride in the active participation at the IAAF General Assembly meetings and the World Athletics Championships in London, at the end of which the Qatari delegation will receive the flag of organising the next 17th world championship in Doha in 2019.
“We are participating in London with a Qatari delegation comprising a number of the presidents of the Doha 2019 organising committees. We intend to gain experience through workshops and daily contact with the local committees. I believe this will be a useful and fruitful experience,” al-Kuwari said.