08 May 2016
ALGERIA, 8 May 2016: Aspire Academy’s student-athletes put up an impressive performance at the 17th Arab Junior Athletics Championships, which was held in Algeria from 5-8 May. Foremost among the good results was a double gold medal for Moaaz Ibrahim in the shot put and discus. Moaaz won gold in the shot put courtesy of a throw of 17.00m before claiming his second gold medal in discuss with a throw of 62.13m, setting a world-leading throw in all IAAF Junior 2016 competitions. This performance puts him in great form going into the 17th Asian Junior Athletic Championships in Vietnam in June and the 16th IAAF World Junior Championships in Poland in July.
Earlier this year, Moaaz had the opportunity to learn and take advice from current (2016) World Indoor Shot Put champion Filip Mihaljevic, from Croatia, when Mihaljevic was at Aspire Academy for training. Describing their meeting, Moaaz said: “Mihaljevic is a top athlete who is improving his distances every time he competes. l hope the time I’ve spent with him has a similar effect on me, as I am targeting top medals at both Asian and World Junior Championships this year”. By setting a world-leading record in the discus throw for all IAAF Junior competitions so far in 2016, Moaaz is well on the way to fulfilling his ambitions.