Adil al Balushi

Paris, Aug 3:

Omani sprinter Ali al Balushi finished his 100m heats in sixth place with a timing of 10.26 seconds in his Olympic debut in Paris on Saturday.

Competing in heats 3 of the blue riband event at Stade de France, Al Balushi put up a positive performance.

Louie Hinchliffe of Great Britain finished first place as he clocked a timing of 9.98 seconds while American Noah Lyles was second in 10.04 seconds. South African Shaun Maswanganyi came third with a timing of 10.06 seconds.

The top three finishers from each of the eight groups along with the best three timing across all groups secured their places in the semifinals.

Although Ali al Balushi could not break his official record of 10.14 seconds, his performance was impressive.

Al Balushi said he wanted to advance further on his Olympic debut but the competition was extremely tough with the presence of many world-class. 

“The competition was very tough, especially heats three had the presence of top-ranked sprinters including Noah Lyles. 

“Competing alongside these athletes provided me with invaluable technical experience which will help me in my forthcoming regional and international events. I am focusing now on my upcoming events and championships. 

“The Olympic participation was as a valuable addition to my technical and sporting expertise. I will work with my coach to improve on my weak areas and enhance my strong points. I am still at the beginning of my career and I am confident that I will achieve much more in upcoming sports events,” he ended

Earlier on Friday, Oman’s women sprinter Mazoon al Alawi finished seventh in the preliminary heat two of the 100m race event at Stade de France in her third Olympics appearance. 

The 26-year-old could not advance to first round competitions after she clocked 12.58 seconds. The result was not enough to be among the best four sprinters from four heats to progress into the first round competitions including the top three in all the four heats.