Oman’s women sprinter Mazoon al Alawi finished seventh in the preliminary heats two of the 100m race on Friday at Stade de France on Friday. The 26-year-old could not advance to first round competitions after she clocked 12.58 seconds. This result was not enough to be among the best four sprinters from four heats to progress into the first round competitions.
Vietnamese runner Tai Nhi Yen secured first place in 11.81 seconds. She was followed by Grenada's Halie Hazard in second place in 11.88 seconds. Bo Ya Zhang from Chinese Taipei finished third place in 11.99 seconds. The top three runners from each group along with the five best times from the four groups advanced to the first round which took place in the afternoon session of the same day. The UAE's Mariam Karim was in the heat two and she finished ninth with a time of 13.26 seconds.
Mazoon could not break her record which is 11.47 seconds as the personal best in the 100m race. Moreover, she did not manage to break her previous timing in the previous Olympic Games as she had finished sixth in the preliminary heats of Group 3 at Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a timing of 12.35 seconds while at Rio 2016 Olympics, she had recorded 12.43 seconds.
Ali confident
Oman’s youngster sprinter Ali al Balushi is all set to shine in his Olympic Debut at Paris 2024 Olympics. The 22-year-old will compete in the round one of the Men’s 100m which will start at 13:55 (Oman time) at Stade de France on Saturday.
Ali aims to deliver his top show as he will be the last athlete from Oman to perform in this current Olympic Games after the three athletes bowed out. It is expected that the competitions will be very tough.
Al Balushi is training intensively under his coach Fahad al Mashaykhi.
He said he is aiming to better his record. “Olympics is a significant milestone that helps me to gain more technical and physical experience. It allows athletes to observe and learn from the world's top athletics stars, benefit from direct technical interaction and compete against them. I will work hard to deliver a commendable performance in this essential Olympic event.”
The actual preparatory and technical programme for Ali started in August 2023. He focused in 60m indoor race during a training camp in Turkiye last January as he broke national record with a timing of 6.58 seconds. In Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Iran, he won first place clocking a time of 6.50 seconds to set both Oman and GCC records. He took part in several camps in UAE, Greece, the Czech Republic and Germany.
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