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FOOTBALL | Page 7 RUGBY | Page 6 Pochettino Kolbe magic hopes to stay as Boks put with Spurs one foot in for 5 years quarter-fi nals Saturday, October 5, 2019 ATHLETICS Safar 6, 1441 AH Katarina ends GULF TIMES years of pain with victory in Doha SPORT Page 3 ATHLETICS Worlds gold safe in hand, Olympics next for Barshim ‘For me, it was just a dream. At home, it was just amazing. Everybody was there – my family, friends, His Highness the Amir himself’ By Mikhil Bhat Doha ome advantage is a thing, after all. Just as high jumpers be- gan going through their paces Hahead of the fi nals yesterday, a mere warm-up jump by the man named Mu- taz Essa Barshim sent the packed capac- ity at the Khalifa International Stadium into a rapturous roar. By the looks of it, this was going to be Barshim’s night. By the end of it, it indeed was. Of course there were moments of scare in between; when he failed to clear the 2.33m mark twice, even as neutral athlete Mikhail Akimenko and Belarus- sian Maksim Nedasekau cleared the bar to move up the order. “I could only keep my fi ngers crossed. No technique I could have advised,” Barshim’s coach Stanislaw ‘Stanley’ Szczyrba told Gulf Times after the win. From where Barshim could see, Szc- zyrba was “touching his heart”, before adding, “but sometimes you need to get it the hard way”. Not just Szczyrba, but the entire Kha- lifa International Stadium must have skipped a heartbeat. But soon, Barshim was back in busi- ness as he cleared the bar at 2.33m before sailing clean over 2.35m and 2.37m. The camaraderie among the high jumpers was such that Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi, whose campaign ended at 2.27m, had run to his dear friend hugging him and jumping on to him to celebrate the world leading mark. That’s how you do it: Barshim reacts after jumping 2.37m in the high jump final at the IAAF World Championships yesterday. Nedasekau dropped out of conten- tion, leaving it to Akimenko and compa- won silver, with the latter taking bronze “If I had jumped 2.33 easy, it would major senior championships. The per- “It was no problem for me to jump af- be in his greatest shape ever to manage triot Ilya Ivanyuk, but both were beaten on countback. have been boring.” sonal record is great but I know I could ter Barshim because I felt the spectators to fi ght for the gold. But tonight he really by the bar. “For me, it was just a dream. At home, Talking about Akimenko and Ivanyuk, have jumped the 2.37 in the second at- were also supporting me,” Akimenko surprised me. Having such a huge sup- And Barshim, who was seated calmly, it was just amazing. Everybody was Barshim said, “I am never afraid but tempt. I only touched the bar with my said. Ivanyuk, who had topped 2.33m port of home crowd, he looked amaz- watching the proceedings, stood up rais- there – my family, friends, His Highness Russia, they always had good high jump- elbow. It is a great motivation for the before coming into the Worlds, said he ing,” Ivanyuk said. ing his hand in acknowledgement to the the Amir himself,” Barshim said after ers. So it was good to jump against those Olympic year and I am going to jump as knew Barshim was going to be the man “As for me, I came to Doha to over- capacity crowd much to their delight, the win. I was not a 100 percent ready good jumpers. I give respect to everyone much as I can also indoors,” Akimenko to beat at these Championships. come my personal best and I did it. I also having confi rmed a successful title de- but when I came there and saw all those out there.” said. “We had really fantastic competition was close to clear 2.37. Unfortunately, I fence. people cheering for me, even if I was dy- For Akimenko, who was the only ath- While the spectators cheered every today. Certainly, when we knew years didn’t cope with this height.” With Akimenko only failing at 2.37 ing, if they take me from the wheelchair lete to avoid any fouls till 2.35m, it was a high jumper in their eff orts, towards the ago, that these World Championships When Szczyrba was asked what’s and Ivanyuk needing two more jumps or ambulance, I would do everything I fantastic fi rst senior Worlds. “I must be end, Barshim might have had some par- are going to be in Doha, we understood next, he had no hesitation in saying, earlier in the series at 2.33m, the former can. I needed to give it some action. happy for the medal as this is my fi rst tisan support. that our main rival Mutaz Barshim will “Tokyo Olympics.” HORSE RACING Amyr Du Soleil wins fi rst Group 1 race in style By a correspondent der Vincent Cheminaud. “Since Paris the beginning of the year I have told the owners that he was a very nice horse”, commented winning trainer he three-year-old colt Thomas Fourcy, “I think we have Amyr Du Soleil took done a good job with him, preserv- his fi rst Group 1 race in ing him throughout the year. hugely impressive style “When he has won, he has done Tin the Qatar Arabian Trophy des so easily without having to dig into Poulains (Gr1 PA) in the colours his reserves. He has confi rmed our of His Highness Sheikh Moham- hopes for him today even if it was a ed bin Khalifa al-Thani, demol- harder race. He has won with style. I ishing the fi eld in a show of ex- think he will improve again over the traordinary class at Saint-Cloud winter. He will be a top class horse, yesterday. The grey colt of Amer an Arabian World Cup horse.” has come rapidly up the ladder Amyr Du Soleil began his racing since his racing debut in June Amyr Du Soleil was in a class all his own yesterday at Saint-Cloud. carrier in the colours of Lisa Dey- when he was second. He then put monaz before being transferred to the pendulum to rights winning Yesterday, he confi rmed that leaders in the early stages before the famous blue and white stars of the Group 3 Prix Tidjani in July he is the outstanding leader of the taking the lead in the fi nal turn. He His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin with great style before returning three-year-old Purebred Arabian quickly took lengths off the racing Khalifa al-Thani. He was bred by from his summer break with an colts in France, putting the race to fi eld and was never challenged in a Lisa and Pierre Deymonaz and is out emphatic victory in the French bed early in the straight to win by display of superiority. The Mrs JF Amyr Du Soleil owner His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani (L) receiving the winning trophy of Balladore (Dormane), a full sister Arabian Breeders’ Challenge- six lengths under jockey Julien Augé Bernard-trained and Jean-Bernard from QREC chairman Isa al-Mohannadi. to Dormah De Brugere, a seven- Poulians (Gr2) in September at despite being somewhat keen in the Eyquem-ridden Jarif in fi nished time winner including the Jumeirah Toulouse. early stages. He sat just behind the in second place, with Al Shaqab Racing-owned and Thomas Four- cy-ridden Mounjared Al Cham, a further length behind in third un- International Stakes. Gulf Times 2 Saturday, October 5, 2019 SPOTLIGHT ‘Big dreamer’ Naser rockets into the athletics limelight A silver in 2017 aged 19 — her idol Allyson Felix and Miller-Uibo were behind her — heralded her talent AFP Doha alwa Eid Naser says she “dreams big” eyeing the 400 metres world record but her astonish- ing winning time of 48.14sec Sat the World Championships rekindled memories of an era three decades ago dominated by Communist eastern Eu- rope. The engaging 21-year-old — born Ebelechukwu Agbapuonwu in Nigeria to a Nigerian mother and Bahraini fa- ther — pulled off a shock defeat of reigning Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo on Thursday, who had not lost a race since August 2017. However, it was the time — the third fastest of all time — that took many people’s breath away. Only those over 40 would recall watching the two women who have run faster than her, world record holder Marita Koch of what was then East Germany, who recorded 47.60sec in 1985, and the former Czechoslova- kia’s Jarmila Kratochvilova (47.99sec in 1983). Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser reacts after winning the women’s 400m final. Theirs was an era when the Cold War was ongoing and the Berlin Wall sepa- world championships in 2017 aged 19 — four years earlier this year. She is now rated East and West Berlin. her idol Allyson Felix and Miller-Uibo under the tutelage of Jose Rubio, who is Neither Koch nor Kratochvilova were behind her — heralded her talent head coach for Bahrain’s sprinters and failed a doping test but their countries as she became the youngest ever med- hurdlers. The new one-lap sensation are known to have operated state- allist in the event. has been dogged by a fragile left ankle sponsored programmes as athletic su- Her Asian Games success last year due to an accident she had aged six.

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