Dubai: The UAE's Bethlehem Desalegn and Alia Mohammad Saeed have qualified for the IAAF World Indoor Championships to be held in Turkey next month.
Competing in the National Indoor Track and Field Championships that concluded in Huang Zu yesterday, Desalegn bagged the silver medals in the 1,500m and the 3,000m, while her team-mate Alia Mohammad Saeed narrowly missed out a podium finish.
However, the timing in the 3,000m was good enough for a spot in the IAAF World Indoor Championships to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from March 9-11.
"This is their first step towards qualifying for London 2012," Ahmad Al Kamali, IAAF Council Member and President, UAE Athletics Association (UAEAA), told Gulf News from China. "Today's results will act as a huge motivation for these two women athletes in setting higher goals. We have made a promise to our country and we will not rest till this dream is achieved," he promised.
Steady improvement
Both women will return to the UAE today and immediately depart for an intense training camp to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
"Both our athletes have been in good condition and they have been showing a steady improvement in their timings in their two events. If they continue this form I do not see any reason why we cannot have both of them representing the UAE at the London Games," Al Kamali said.
Officials from the UAE AA have put a lot of hope in Desalegn and Ali while citing them as two of the probables who are capable of making it to London this summer. For London, Desalegn has set her sights on qualifying in the 1,500m and 5,000m, while the younger Alia is aiming for 1,500m, 5,000m and the 10,000m.
"Their times have improved and in fact they are better than the ‘A' times set by the IAAF. So we are very confident of what these two women can achieve. They have our full backing," Al Kamali said.
