After his exploits at the Asian Games in Jakarta where he won the 400m hurdles gold and also helped Qatar claim the 4x400m relay title, Abderrahman Samba will look to conquer new horizons today when he lines up for the Asia-Pacific team in the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The two-day event sees four teams – Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe – compete for honours in 40 competitions (20 each for men and women) in this Czech city, just nine miles from the country’s border with Poland.
Each team is allowed to enter two athletes in each event, except for relays where one team competes, with a maximum of one athlete from each country per event. No athlete shall be allowed to double in the 3000m and 5000m.
Samba, who is unbeaten in eight finals this season, became the second fastest man ever with his 46.98 in the Paris Diamond League meet. 400m flat specialist Abdalelah Haroun and hammer-thrower Ashraf Elseify, who also won gold medals in Jakarta, and 800m runner Jamal al-Hayrani are the other Qataris in the Asia-Pacific squad.
The challenge to Samba’s dominance today may come from world champion Karsten Warholm, who has set four Norwegian records this year, improving to 47.64 in winning the European Championships final.
Kyron McMaster from British Virgin Islands has run even faster than Warholm with 47.54 in Paris and has three international titles to his name this year: the Commonwealth Games, Central American and Caribbean Games and NACAC Championships. He comes to Ostrava fresh off another major win in the IAAF Diamond League final, where he finished just ahead of Warholm. “There is no doubt the 400m hurdles is a very challenging event. It tests many things like endurance, speed, good technique and a good stride pattern but I think that is why I enjoy it,” said Samba.
“I like being able to learn something from every race, and I also have the extra bonus of being able to travel to other countries around the world. I am lucky to make money from my passion, but I’ve also met many kind people and made many great friends from my time in the sport and, God willing, I could also meet my future wife!”
This is one of the most open events of the IAAF Continental Cup, given the presence in each team of at least one proven top-level performer.
Qatar’s world bronze medallist Abdalelah Haroun is currently fourth on the 2018 world list thanks to his winning time of 44.07 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London.
But the 21-year-old cannot afford to take anything for granted given the presence of his highly talented contemporary, Botswana’s Baboloki Thebe, who has run 44.54 this season and won the African title last month.
Nathan Strother of the Americas has run 44.34 this season, and his teammate Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic, despite having only clocked 44.59 this season, has huge experience of top-level events, having won silver at the 2012 Olympics as an 18-year-old and world bronze a year later.
Abderrahman Samba and Abdalelah Haroun will be representing the Asia-Pacific team in the IAAF Continental Cup beginning in Ostrava today.
