The Who is Who in Team Qatar for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics set to kick off in less than a month from now, Team Qatar is poised to make the nation proud and ensure that Qatar's tenth consecutive participation in the Summer Games, since its maiden appearance in 1984, will go down in history as one of the country's best ever.
As of the last count, a total of 13 athletes comprising seven from athletics, one judoka, a rower, two beach volleyballers, a weightlifter and a shooter will be wearing the maroon colors in Tokyo from July 23 to August 8, 2021.
The qualifying athletes from Qatar are Mutaz Essa Barshim (Men's high jump), Abubaker Haydar Abdalla (Men's 800m), Femi Ogunode (Men's 100m), Adam Ali Musab (Men's 1500m), Abdirahman Saeed Hassan (Men's 1500m), Abderrahman Samba (Men's 400m hurdles), Bashair Obaid Al-Manwari (Women's 100m).
Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan qualified for the men's beach volleyball event, while Fares Ibrahim will be representing Qatar in the –96 kg category in weightlifting. Tala Abujbara will feature in the women's single sculls event of rowing, while in Judo, Ayoub Elidrissi will compete in the men's −66 kg.
Qatar also qualified for the men's trap event in shooting.
The quadrennial event, originally scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9, 2020, but had to be rescheduled because of the COVID 19 pandemic, is expected to feature a total number of 11,091 athletes from 205 nations who will be competing in 339 events of 33 sports and 50 disciplines.
Here is a brief look at the men and women representing Qatar at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad.
"High-flying" Mutaz Essa Barshim
Mutaz Essa Barshim is not just a household name in Qatar and arguably its most celebrated athlete in history. Still, the soft-spoken Aspire Academy graduate is also currently one of the most famous athletes on the global stage.
A two-time world champion, the 29-year-old secured his place in Tokyo after his stunning 2.37m gold medal-winning leap in the high jump at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha.
Barshim has risen from his debut on the continental stage in 2010 to become one of the best high jumpers in the world with two Olympic medals (bronze at London 2012 and silver at Rio 2016) and two World Championship titles (2017 and 2019) in his medals' cabinet.
He is rightfully regarded as one of the greatest high jumpers in history alongside world record holder Javier Sotomayor, German legend Dietmar Mogenburg and Sweden's Stefan Holm.
Barshim, who initially wanted to be a race walker, holds both the Qatari national and Asian outdoor records (2.43m) in the high jump.
Barshim, who is an inspiration to many young athletes in Qatar and the region, elevated his iconic status in 2019 when he produced a breathtaking performance, jumping 2.37m, despite having had an injury scare before the competition in front of a home crowd in Doha to defend his World Championship title.
His long list of career achievements includes 14 gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
If Barshim's steady progress at the Olympics since his debut appearance in London in 2012, where he won bronze which he followed up with a silver at the 2016 Rio Games, a gold medal might probably be in the offing for Qatar at long last in Tokyo.
Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, the dukes of Qatar's beach volleyball
"Sooner or later, we are going to be Olympic champions or world champions, for sure. I believe that."
Those were the words of Cherif Younousse soon after he and Ahmed Tijan teamed up to form a new Qatari pair a couple of years ago. And they illustrate the kind of attitude that has helped Cherif and Ahmed rise to number five (5) in the current FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking as they prepare to spring a glorious surprise in Tokyo.
The pair qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games following the newly announced ranking by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), which gives direct qualification for the first 13 teams at the end of the last three Olympic qualifying rounds in Mexico.
The Qatari team won the gold medal for the third round of the Cancun World Championship, which concluded in Mexico at the beginning of May. The team also won the silver in the first and second rounds of it.
They recently won the silver medal after losing 1-2 to Poland in the final of the 4-star Sochi World Tour Championship in Russia, which involved 62 teams from 27 countries.
The team is currently ranked World No. 5 with 5,520 points.
Cherif and Ahmed first appeared as a Qatari team on the international scene in 2014, when they represented Qatar at the FIVB U21 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Larnaka. Their first appearance on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour came later that year when they competed on home sand at the Doha Open. But after that, each of them was paired up with a more experienced Brazilian-born partner.
They reunited at the beginning of 2018, and just like a match made in heaven, the duo has amazingly jelled together with amazing results following.
Judging by their current form, a medal is most likely to come from the pair at the end of proceedings in Tokyo.
Samba sets to scale the hurdles in Tokyo
Qatari athletics star Abderrahman Samba, the 400m hurdles bronze medalist at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, is one of Qatar's most promising medal hopes at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Samba has enjoyed a meteoric rise since he broke into the global scene at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, where he placed seventh. Since then, he has been one of the most consistent performers for Qatar.
The 25-year-old earned his Tokyo ticket after a blistering 47.27secs run (a World Leading and Meet Record) at the 2019 Shanghai Diamond League. At the event, he confined the USA's Rai Benjamin (the joint third-fastest man in history in the 400 m hurdles) and Ireland's Thomas Barr to the second and third positions.
Samba is the second person in history to run the 400m hurdle event in less than 47 seconds. He is also the Asian record holder in the 400m hurdles, sets with his 47.48secs run at the 2018 Asian Games.
Tala Abujbara, the first-ever female rower from GCC to qualify for the Olympics
Team Qatar will be making history in Tokyo with Tala Abujbara, who is the first-ever female rower from the region to qualify for an Olympic Games.
The 29-year-old history-making lady rower qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Games after finishing third in the women's single sculls' B' Final of the 2021 Asia & Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta in Tokyo, Japan, on May 7.
She was a second-place finisher in the women's single sculls (w1x) - final e at the 2019 World Championships,
Tala, who completed the Tokyo race in eight minutes 20.58sec, secured the third of five berths on offer at the competition.
Tala had previously won the gold medal at the 2nd Arab Indoor Rowing Championship in Kuwait in 2018.
Abdalla to make Olympics second appearance in Tokyo
Abubaker Haider Abdalla will be making his second appearance at the Olympics in Tokyo after his debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The Qatari athlete hit the qualifying mark for the 800m race in Tokyo after finishing fourth in 1:44.82min at the 2019 Doha Diamond League.
An Aspire Academy graduate, Abdalla holds both the 800m outdoor and indoor continental titles, following his victory in Tehran at the 2018 Asian Indoors.
Born on August 28, 1996, Abdalla has a personal best of 1:44.33min achieved at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha. He won the gold medal - beating Kuwait's Ebrahim Al-Zofairi (1:46.88) and compatriot Jamal Hairane (1:47:27) to the second and third positions, respectively. He is currently ranked World No. 36.
Fares Ibrahim El-Bakh (Weightlifting)
Fares secured his Tokyo 2020 qualification after winning two gold and a silver in the 96kg category at the 2019 Qatar International Weightlifting Cup, where he was named the tournament's Best Athlete.
Commonly known as Meso Hassouna, the 22-year-old Fares is a two-time Junior World Champion (2017 and 2018). He competed in the 94 kg category until 2018 and 96 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.
He holds the junior world record in the clean & jerk (225 kg) and total (397 kg) in the 96 kg division.
At the 5th International Qatar Cup in 2018, Fares swept gold in the 96 kg class and set a junior world record in the clean & jerk with 225 kg and a total of 397 kg.
Adam ready to make debut Olympic appearance count
Aspire Academy graduate Musab Ali Adam secured his well-deserved Tokyo Games qualification after winning the 1500m qualifying race held at his alma mater on February 14, 2021.
The 26-year-old clocked 3:32:41 mins in the race held in cooperation with the Qatar Athletics Federation, Aspire Academy and Aspetar.
Adam had previously won two gold medals at the Asian Youth Championships for the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter race hosted by China in Taipei in 2014.
He also won the bronze in the Asian Men's and Women's Championships in the 1500-meter sprint that Qatar hosted in 2019.
Ogunode makes the cut after a blistering run at Doha Diamond League
Femi Ogunode, who ran an Asian record of 9.91s back in 2015, made it to the 2020 Tokyo Games after winning the 100m race of the 2021 Wanda Diamond League in 10 seconds on May 28.
With the victory, the former Asian champion became the sixth track and field athlete from Qatar to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. The others being Barshim, Abderrahman Samba (men's 400m hurdles), Abubaker Haydar Abdalla (men's 800m), and Adam Ali Musab and Abdirahman Saeed Hassan (men's 1500m).
His personal best of 9.91 at 100 m at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2015 makes him the current co-holder of the Asian 100m record, which China's Su Bingtian tied in 2018.
Ogunode won the 100m and 200m gold at the recently concluded Arab Athletics Championships in Tunisia.
Qatar's Abdirahman Hassan on the card for 1500m
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 May 12.
The 24-year-old comfortably dipped under the qualifying standard of 3 minutes 35 seconds with a personal best of 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.
Two years ago, at the Asian Championships, which was also held as a test event for the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 at the Khalifa International Stadium, Hassan had narrowly missed out on a podium spot finished fourth in the 800m, behind Abdalla.
Hassan has been improving steadily in the discipline since he first participated in 2016. At the Malaga event, he shaved off more than 5 seconds from his previous personal best, which he had clocked in Andujar, also in Spain, in 2019.
Ayoub El Idrissi qualifies ready for the throw on Tokyo's mat
Team Qatar Judo star Ayoub El Idrissi secured his Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualification after accumulating a total of 699 points thanks to the good results he obtained during his participation in several international tournaments in 2020 and 2021. His results at the recent Grand Slam tournaments in Georgia, Turkey and Russia, and the 2021 World Judo Championships held in Hungary in June all helped him in securing the qualification.
El Idrissi, competing in the -66kg category in Tokyo, had a fifth-place finish at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. He is currently ranked World No. 76.
Manwari championing the female cause on the track
Bashair Obaid Al Manwari is one of the wildcard entrants for the 2020 Tokyo Games, and she will be representing Qatar in the women's 100m race.
The 24-year-old is a multi-discipline athlete, having represented Qatar in both the 100m and the long jump at different times in the past.
Manwari has a personal best of 13.36secs in the 100m and 4.72m in the long jump. She emerged sixth at the 2021 Arab Championships held in Rades, Tunisia, in June.
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