Qatar’s Samba wins 400m hurdles with new Games record

Jakarta, Indonesia: Qatar’s Abderrahaman Samba set one of three Asian Games records on a stirring night in track and field but said he had hoped for more than just winning the gold medal in the men’s 400m hurdles on Monday.

Samba led from start to finish as he blitzed the field in 47.66 seconds to win gold and establish a new Games record. But the 22-year-old showed the mettle of a champion when he later revealed he had hoped to go sub-47 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

“Yes, I’m very happy to win the gold medal but I was also hoping to break the Asian record which I hold. I will have to work harder for Tokyo which is now my main target,” said Samba.

In June, in Paris, Samba became only the second man to run sub-47 seconds in this event, 46.98, after world record holder Kevin Young of the United States who ran 46.78 in 1992.

Samba joined Oluwakemi Adekoya of Bahrain who set a Games record minutes earlier in the women’s 400m hurdles. Adekoya won the gold medal in 54.48.

Later in the night, Iran’s Hossein Keyhani set a new mark of eight minutes 22.79 seconds as he won the men’s 3000m steeplechase.

Samba, who was born in Saudi Arabia, is now a clear favourite to win gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“I have run about seven or eight times this season, and Paris was my best. I want to keep improving every time I run. This is what keeps pushing me,” added Samba.