HANGZHOU – National athletics star Umar Osman has attributed his slow start for his failure to move into the men’s 400m final in his maiden appearance at the Asian Games here last night.
The 20-year-old was hoping to be one of the top eight runners to qualify for the final by improving on his national record of 46.09s but all he could do was finish 11th overall.
In Heat 3 at the Hangzhou Olympic Stadium, Umar came in third in 46.58s, with Asian Championships silver medallist Fuga Sato of Japan coming in first in 45.56s.
Sri Lanka’s Aruna Darshana had the slowest time among the eight finalists, clocking 46.07s.
“I am not satisfied with my race because I made too many mistakes. I got off to a slow start and it was difficult to catch up towards the final 200m…that affected my performance.
“My goal was to improve on my record, (and) clock a faster time so that I could make the final,” he said.
The Johor-born runner has broken the national record three times this year. At the Cambodia SEA Games in May, Umar clocked 46.34s to break the 22-year-old national mark of 46.41s set by Mohd Zaiful Zainal Abidin in the 2001 Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Brunei.
Umar then shattered his own national 400m record twice at the World University Games in Chengdu, China on August 2 when he clocked 46.33s in the heats and 46.09s in the semi-finals. – September 30, 2023