22 Apr 2025
Aspire Academy student-athlete Abdulla Al-Abdulla battled adverse conditions to claim silver in the pole vault for Qatar at the recent Asian Under-18 Athletics Championships in the Saudi Arabian city of Dammam.
The whole field had to cope with the very tough conditions, with the wind having a major influence on the heights the competitors were able to achieve.
Abdulla Al-Abdulla coped well with the challenges and was one of three athletes to clear 4.20m. He finished in the runners-up spot after only clearing it on his second attempt.
In the same event, Younes Al-Balushi gained valuable championship experience and learned how to deal with adverse weather conditions as he finished eighth.
Aspire Academy’s pole vault coach, Jaco Van Vuuren, was full of praise for both student-athletes for how they adapted their approach to the event to cope with the conditions.
“The boys had to change a number of things in order to even compete,” he explained.
“They had to shorten the steps they took on their approach, they had to widen their grip on the pole, not to mention the angle the pole is held to stop the wind ripping it out of their hands.
“We also had to use shorter poles and start at lower heights than the boys are used to. There were several times when the athlete cleared the bar, but the wind then blew the pole into the bar and knocked it off, which means the height was failed.”
“I am extremely proud of both student-athletes as they did everything that we strategised with them, and they did extremely well under the conditions.”
Qatar finished fourth in the 19 nations that won medals at the championships, winning two gold medals, three silver medals, and a bronze medal.
A total of five Aspire Academy student-athletes were chosen by the Qatar Athletics Federation to represent the nation at the 6th edition of the championships.