18 May 2022
A host of Aspire Academy student athletes were in their elements as they churned out more success while representing Qatar in multiple disciplines at the ongoing 3rd GCC Games, Kuwait 2022.
In Athletics, promising Qatari hurdler and current student-athlete at Aspire Academy Saeed Al Absi lived up to his mark by winning a silver on the opening day.
The 20-year-old clocked 14.08secs in the men’s 110m hurdles final behind Kuwait’s Yaqoub Al Youha (13.65secs) while Oman’s Khalfan Al Jabri took the bronze (15.04secs).
Al Absi’s best moment came last year at the World U-20 Championships at Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi, where he clocked 13.46 secs to set a new Qatar national U-20 record but missed the podium by a fraction to finish fourth.
Academy’s Graduate student-athlete Moaz Ibrahim also picked up a silver in the discus event with a throw of 58.87metre.
Away from the track and field, Aspire Academy Student Athletes also ruled the roost in the pool and helped Qatar dominate on the second day of the regional competition.
Aspire Academy Student Athletes Mohamed Mahmoud, Youssef Hassan left an indelible impression by scooping up a silver from the pool in the 4x100 Medley Relay team that also included non-Academy swimmers Abdulaziz Obaidly and Tameem Mohamed.
Another swimmer, Karim Salama, also got on the medal list by winning a silver in the 1500mm freestyle race. He clocked 17:30.60 for his effort.
Omar Ashraf wrapped up the day’s proceedings at the pool by winning the silver in the 400m Individual Medley with a timing of 4:36.48.
Athletics continues to be one of the important branches at the Aspire Academy, which boasts of structured framework specific to age, ability and relative performance measures.
The Academy’s long-term development plan for athletics has had produced several world-class athletes including reigning Olympic and world champion Mutaz Barshim, who is likely to compete at the GCC Games in his favourite pet event – high jump.