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Doha/Bengaluru, July 2: Qatar's Samba Abderrahman closed in on 400M hurdles world record as he became just the second athlete to clock under 47sec in the International Association of Atlerics Federations' (IAAF) Diamond League meeting in Paris last week.
Samba, who trains under legendary Qatari sprinter Talal Mansour has been making giant strides in the circuit ever since his IAAF Diamond League debut at home in Doha last year.
This season, for the fifth time in six races the 22-year-old produced a world-leading performance. But in his latest, a blazing 46.98 run at Meeting de Paris IAAF Diamond League fixture in the French capital, Samba became just the second man to ever breach the event's 47sec barrier, leap-frogging among others Edwin Moses, widely considered the finest 400M hurdler of all time.
Abderrahman Samba back on top of the 400m hurdles with #2 time ever.!!!! @_Kingben_ avoided racing the best in #ParisDL 400 hurdles and now is #2. Live thread: https://t.co/ZIsAABnnTm pic.twitter.com/gTngoEYXs7
— LetsRun.com (@letsrundotcom) June 30, 2018
Suddenly, Kevin Young's 46.78 world record, set at the 1992 Olympic Games, three years before Samba was born, no longer seems that out of reach.
"It definitely didn't feel like I ran under 47sec," Samba said.
"I made a small mistake at the start, lost my balance on the first hurdle so I didn't expect to run so fast."
Here is Abderrahman Samba's astounding AR and new WL of 46.98 over 400mh at the Meeting de Paris, his sixth win out of as many outings in the event this season now pic.twitter.com/M5LDw4hYDf
— Costas Goulas (@lsabre_Avenger) June 30, 2018
If it did throw him off, Samba hid it well. He regrouped quickly, running almost stride-for-stride alongside early leader Kyron McMaster, the 2017 IAAF Diamond League champion, as the pair, along with world champion Karsten Warholm, reached the race's midway point.
Then, Samba once again illustrated his late-race strength, pulling into the lead as the pair entered the final bend and took the penultimate hurdle.
Samba padded his margin with every stride. By the time McMaster crossed the finish with a 47.54 British Virgin Islands record, Samba was already howling with joy after glancing at the clock and seeing the number 46 staring back at him. Panting, he dropped to his knees to kiss the track before resuming his celebration.
"I think now anything is possible," said Samba. "I'm coming more close to the world record. I'm working very hard on that. But right now," he added, "I'm speechless."
Abderrahman Samba says he is working towards breaking the world record in the 400m hurdles after clocking 46.98. #ParisDL pic.twitter.com/ft46ojvAZk
— Ockert de Villiers (@ockertde) June 30, 2018
Samba will next race at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on 5 July when he will once again take on world champion Warholm. And it is surely just a matter of time before he faces collegiate star Rai Benjamin, who earlier this year moved to second on the world all-time list before being leap-frogged by Samba.
(With IAAF inputs)
