Sidibari
Maldivian sprinters Ziva Moosa and Ibadhullah Adam have delivered remarkable performances in their respective races at the Asian Athletics Championship in Gumi, South Korea.
Finishing at 10.78 seconds in the men’s 100m race, Ibdadhullah pulled off his seasonal best (SB) performance. The 23-year-old finished 6th in the heat, nearly missing out on a spot in the semifinals. Zency’s timing was just 0.16 seconds behind Thailand’s Chutithat Pruksorranan.
Ibadhullah achieved this SB feat in the 100m race despite dealing with a recurring groin injury. Unfortunately, Zency had to pull out of the 200m race in Gumi due to the re-emergence of the injury.
This might be Ibadhullah’s best performance of the current athletics season so far, but he had raised the benchmark for himself last year. Ibadhullah had edged past Saaid with a 10.59 dash to win the 100m gold at the national championships last September. In July, he represented the Maldives at the Paris Olympics, achieving his 100m personal best in the preliminary round with a time of 10.55 seconds.
Alongside Ibadhullah, Ziva Moosa Shafeeu represented Maldives at this year’s Asian Athletics Championship, sprinting in both the women’s 100m and 200m heats.
In round one of the 100m race, the 17-year-old broke her own personal best record, reaching the finish line in 12.40 seconds. Ziva returned to the track line-up on Saturday for the 200m heat. She finished 6th with 25.37 seconds on the clock.
Although the two athletes who represented Maldives in this year’s Asian Athletics Championship were not able to advance to the semifinal heats, they return home having delivered improved performances.
