The UAE’s participation in the London 2012 Olympic Games ended today after triple-jumper Mohamed Abbas Darwish failed to progress from his qualifying group.
Darwish produced a best jump of 16.06m which placed him 13th in Group B and therefore saw him join Britain’s gold medal hopeful Phillips Idowu in missing out on a place in the final.
For the record, Darwish’s personal best of 16.80m would have comfortably earned him qualification into the final, but the 26-year-old Emirati will take a lot from his Olympic experience having only taken up the triple-jump three years ago.
The Dubai-based athlete’s coach, the hugely-experienced Bulgarian Svetoslav Topuzov, is convinced Darwish possesses a great deal of potential and while the immediate focus was on London 2012, the Rio Games in 2016 has always been viewed as the more realistic aim for success.
Prior to Darwish’s participation in London, Topuzov said: “I think Mohamed is thinking about a lot of different things because he only began three years ago. He must start thinking on his own that ‘I want to be amongst the best in the world.’
“I think for the next Olympic Games he will have the right mentality.”
American Christian Taylor produced the longest jump of 17.21m and will head into tomorrow’s final confident of delivering another gold medal for the USA.
Darwish’s performance comes 24 hours after the UAE’s Betlhem Desalegn failed to progress from her 1500m heat.
* For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook.
