Tuesday August 3, 2021
Mogadishu (HOL) - Ali Idow Hassan, One of two Somalia Olympic athletes in Tokyo, has placed 10th in the first round of the Men's 1500m.
Hassan was in Heat 2 and completed the race in 3:43.96, marking a personal best for the middle distance runner.
Hassan beat out runners from Morrocco, Spain, Brazil, Poland ad Qatar.
There were 16 total runners.
Kenya's Abel Kispang finished first with a time of 3:40.68, followed by USA's Matthew Centrowitz and Jake Wightman from Great Britain.
Unfortunately, because Hassan did not finish in the top 6 in his heat, he will not advance to the semi-finals.
Djibouti's Ayanleh Souleiman has qualified to the semi-final on Thursday after running a season best of 3:37.25.
Ahmed Nuh Ibrahim, Ali's running coach, told the VOA that he is proud of his progress since his previous meets.
"Today, he ran well. He is on the biggest stage with some of the best runners in the world, and he fits right in."
Ibrahim called on the Somali government to build better facilities to train runners.
The last time Somalia won a medal in the 1500m on the world stage was in 1987 when Abdi Bile brought home the gold at the World Championships in Rome, Italy.