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Qatar hurdler to be in action at Stockholm Diamond League meet
Raajiv Tripathi
DOHA
Qatar's 400m hurdles wonder Abderrahman Samba has been bringing a new element of surprise to every race he has done in the season so far.
On Sunday, he will line up for his fourth run, since May 4 at Stockholm's Olympic Stadium, as twenty five Olympic and world champions battle for the points at Bauhaus-Galan in Sweden, the sixth leg of the 14-meet IAAF Diamond League series.
The whole world would be watching what he has got to offer on the morrow.
This will be his third head-to-head clash with world champion Karsten Warholm. With a 2-0 edge now, Samba, armed with a deadly finish, would be keen to continue his sizzling run that he has produced thus far to overwhelm the Norwegian.
Warholm had stunned one and all in London last year when he ran away with the world title, beating Turkish Yasmani Copello to the second spot. Olympic champion Kerron Clement secured the bronze medal.
Samba was then making his world debut. He looked a good bet for a medal but lost his strides and hit the last hurdle. He had nearly fallen on the track and by the time he picked himself up and reached the finish line, six athletes had already come home.
However, the young Qatari runner put this episode behind him and reshaped himself through his sheer workload at a camp in South Africa this year. Within three Diamond League races till now, he has been able to present himself as the man to beat.
Samba got warmed up for the new season on April 19 with a World Lead time 47.90 at Potchefstroom in South Africa. Since then he has created two Diamond League (DL) records and improved on his world leading times in Doha and Rome.
In Oslo on Thursday, he beat the 31-year-old meet record with his 47.60, while beating home hero Warholm for a second successive race and imposed himself on the one-lap obstacle race.
On the basis of the current form, one can expect Samba to improve the meet mark of 47.65, set by American Bershawn Jackson on August 6, 2010. But one factor that may foil Samba's record-making bid is the time gap since his Oslo run.
After his Thursday's easy victory, many are wondering if Samba can do something amazing in another race within three days. Whatever it is, Samba is undoubtedly a new challenge and it is to be seen how he deals with it in Stockholm.
Along with Warholm, the defending champion, world silver medallist Copello is also in the fray. Estonian Rasmus Magi, who was second last yere here, is not in the proper shaper to challenge the leading trio. Olympic champion Clement is absent after three races.
Warholm, at a press conference, said, he was delighted to secure the goal for this year but he needs to work on some gray areas."I was very happy starting off my season with a personal record, also a Nordic record. It is very fun to run under 48. I was hoping to improve it at the Bislett Games. That's the game, you can't improve in every race.
"I see I've lot of things to work on. I just need to take that with me now," the world champion added.
Besides Samba, there is no other Qatari athlete competing in the Stockholm meeting.
