Mazoon takes to tracks today

Tokyo: Oman’s fastest woman Mazoon al Alawi will take to the athletics track in women’s 100m race at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Friday.

The race will start early morning at 4:14 am Oman time (9:14 am Japan time).

Speaking ahead of her race, sprinter Mazoon said she is proud to be among the Sultanate’s athletes in this showpiece event for second consecutive time. “I am looking to break my personal record in this Olympics and hope to better my record in Rio Olympics 2016. Despite all difficulty in our preparatory programme, I aim to deliver best performance that will reflect development of Oman’s athletics,” she added.

The Sultanate’s other Olympian sprinter, Barkat al Harthy, will be in action on Saturday for men’s 100m race.

Mazoon was the fifth athlete opted for the Sultanate squad after meeting all the requirements to attend in the top sporting event besides the top efforts by the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) officials to confirm the attendance of a woman athlete in Tokyo.

Despite the Covid impact on her training preparatory programme, Mazoon is set for the competitions in heats three. She was with sprinter Barakat in Turkey camp which started mid of March until June. Turkey camp followed by a participation in the Arab Athletics Championship in last June and July. She had registered her best record of 11.84s in the 100m race at Open athletics meet in Turkey last April during the overseas camp of Barakat and Mazoon alongside national coach Mohammed al Hooti.

Al Alawi, who hails from Sur, will be looking for a different show and advance to the semifinals. She had managed to move into next round in Rio Olympics. She will aim to better her performance in the last Olympics and reach to the finals.

The promising sprinter had represented the Sultanate in many athletics meets as she took part in several editions of the GCC Women’s Games, 2014 Asian Games 2014 in Incheon, South Korea, 2016 Asian Indoor Championships in Nanjing, 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku and IAAF World Indoor Championships 2018.

TARGET BETTER SHOW

Mohammed al Hooti, Oman athletics head coach, affirmed that both sprinters Barakat and Mazoon will target new records for the Sultanate in this prestigious sporting event. “We know the toughness of the competition and lack of proper preparation of the athletes but I am confident both of the Sultanate’s representatives in Tokyo 2020 Olympics will register the desired records,” he said.

Commenting on the long overseas camp in Turkey, Al Hooti said: ”Antalia camp in Turkey was a good preparatory destination for the national runners. Besides that, both sprinters had participated in Tunisia at Arab Athletics Championship and it was essential to enter them into the mood of the actual and official competitions after long break due to the Covid situation. I hope the last few months preparatory camps assist our runners and shape them for this globe assignment,” he ended.

Lifter Amur

Oman’s star weightlifter, Amur al Khanjari, is all set to his debut in Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The 21-year-old will begin his challenge in the 81 kg Group B event on Saturday at the Tokyo International Forum.