Qatar’s Abdirahman Saeed Hassan booked a spot at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the men’s 1,500m event with a second place finish at the II Meeting Challenge Nerja 2021 in Spain on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old comfortably dipped under the qualifying standard of 3 minutes 35 seconds with a personal best 3:34.24 for a second place finish at the Enrique López Cuenca Stadium in Nerja, Malaga.
Hassan finished behind Spain’s Mohamed Katir, who too booked a spot at the Games later this summer with a 3:33.62 run, which was also his personal best.
Hassan will join compatriot Adam Ali Musab, who had already qualified in the event when he ran a world leading time of 3:32.41 at the Aspire Academy Warm Up Track in February this year. Hassan’s time is the sixth fastest in the discipline this year.
The other Qatari track and field athletes to have already qualified for the July 23-August 8 Games, include two-time high jump world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, men’s 400m hurdles sensation Abderrahman Samba, hammer thrower Ashraf El-Seify and Abubaker Haydar Abdulla in the 800m.
Two years ago at the Asian Championships, which were also held as a test event for the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 at Khalifa International Stadium, Hassan had narrowly missed out on a podium spot, having finished fourth in the 800m, behind Abdalla.
Hassan has been improving steadily in the discipline since he first participated in 2016, and on Wednesday, shaved off more than 5 seconds from his previous personal best, that he had clocked in Andujar, also in Spain, in 2019.
Abdirahman Saeed Hassan
