The deadline for qualifying to the athletics event in the Rio 2016 Olympics passed on July 11, with many Arab athletes making the cut.
The International Association of Athletics Federations ranked the athletes who have fulfilled the entry standards for each event based on their qualification periods, publishing the results in the World Ranking List for Olympic Games Qualification .
The IAAF also declared that the target number of athletes reserved for the men’s 1,500 meter race, 3,000 meter steeplechase and hammer throw events, as well as the women’s heptathlon, has not been reached. Athletes that have not achieved the standards for these events will now have another chance at an Olympic ticket, based on their ranking with respect to other unqualified athletes.
Numerous Arab athletes have qualified to the athletics tournament in Rio 2016. Many have not only reached the qualifying minimum but also gone beyond it, placing among the athletes having the best qualifying periods.
Here are 8 Arab athletes whose qualifying finishes are among the top-five in their respective events.
1. Mutaz Essa Barshim, Qatar (High Jump)
Barshim is a serious contender for Qatar’s first gold or silver Olympic medal, as the Asian record-holder and 2016 world's best. Barshim has the highest qualifying jump (2.41 meters) among the high jumpers heading to Rio, with the entry standard set at 2.29 meters. His personal best – a 2.43 jump he performed in 2014 – is the second highest jump in history, just two centimeters lower than the high jump world record set by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor in 1993.
He has several regional and international medals to his credit, including four Asian Indoor Championship gold medals, a 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championship gold, 2013 IAAF World Championship silver and a 2014 IAAF Continental Cup bronze.
Barshim was one of the two Qataris who brought home a bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympic Games, where he participated in the Olympics for the first time.
2. Ruth Jebet, Bahrain (Steeplechase)
The Kenyan-born athlete has the best qualifying time (8:59.97 minutes) for the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase in Rio, exceeding the required 9:45 minutes. She has been representing Bahrain in international competitions since 2013 and currently holds the second-best record of all time and the 2016 World Leading timing. She is eyeing Bahrain’s second Olympic medal, after Maryam Jamal’s 2012 athletics bronze.
3. Taoufik Makhloufi, Algeria (1,500 meter)
Makhloufi’s 3:28.75 minute finish placed him second on the list of qualifying periods for the men's 1,500 meter Olympic 2016 race. He has also fulfilled the 1:46 minute target for the 800 meter race for the Rio Olympics.
Rio 2016 will mark his second Olympic participation and his second time qualifying to both the 1,500 and 800 meter races. Makhloufi won Algeria’s only 2012 Olympic medal, a gold for the 1,500 meter event.
4. Abdalaati Iguider, Morocco (1,500 meter)
His 3:28.79 minute qualifying period – a personal best – is right below Makhloufi's. After beating the 3:36.20 minute entry benchmark for the 2016 Olympics, Iguider booked his spot at his third consecutive Olympic Games. Additionally, Iguider has qualified for the 5,000 meter race in Rio 2016, with the fifth best qualifying time among the male 5,000 meter runners.
He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in the 1,500 meter race, Morocco's only medal from London 2012. Iguider won gold in 2012, silver in 2010 and bronze in 2014 at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. He is also a 2015 IAAF World Championship bronze medalist and an IAAF World Junior Championships gold (2004) and silver (2006) medalist.
5. Habiba Ghribi, Tunisia (Steeplechase)
Ghribi has the third best qualifying time (9:05.36 minutes) for the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase at the Rio Olympics. She holds the women's African record and has the fourth fastest 3,000 meter steeplechase of all time.
According to Africa News, Ghribi has left her mark in Tunisian history, as the first Tunisian athlete to win medals at both the World Championships and the Olympics, as well as the first Tunisian woman to win an Olympic medal.
After her 13th place finish at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she returned to the London Olympics and finished in second place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase event. However, she was later awarded the gold 2012 Olympic medal after it was stripped from Russia’s Yuliya Zaripova due to doping. She also earned the 2011 World Championship gold in the same manner.
6. Mostafa Al-Gamel, Egypt (Hammer Throw)
Gamel's 79.9 meter throw – 2.9 meters higher than the Olympic prerequisite – is the fourth-best among the qualified throws to the 2016 Olympics and only one centimeter lower than the third-best. The African record holder and 2012 Olympian is an African Championship gold, silver and bronze medalist, plus a 2014 IAAF Continental Cup silver medalist.
7. Ihab Abdelrahman, Egypt (Javelin Throw)
With an 88.99 meter javelin throw, Abdelrahman placed fifth on the men's list for Olympic Qualification. After fulfilling the 83 meter entry standard, Abdelrahman qualified to his second Olympic Games after London 2012.
He has won Egypt’s first ever IAAF World Athletics Championships medal, a silver he won in 2015. Abdelrahman had previously claimed the Continental Cup gold in 2014 and the IAAF World Junior championship silver in 2008.
8. Yousef Ahmad Masrahi, Saudi Arabia (400 m)
After exceeding the 45.4 second benchmark, Masrahi will compete in his second Olympic Games, with the fifth-best qualifying period (43.93 seconds) among the qualified male athletes for the 400 meter race in Rio 2016. He is one of the six Saudi Arabians poised to participate in the men's athletics event.
The Asian record holder has won the Asian Games twice and grabbed two Asian bronze medals, along with Asian Championship gold and silver medals and a 2014 Continental Cup bronze.