Saaid out of Tokyo Olympics after coming fourth in preliminary round
Winner of the 100m dash, Zimbabwe's Ngoni Makusha finished the race in 10.30 seconds
Hassan Saaid
Fastest runner in the Maldives, Hassan Saaid is out of the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 after coming in fourth place in the preliminary round of the 100-meter race.
Saaid who is ranked 883rd in the world finished the first heat of the 100-meter race in 10.70 seconds. Zimbabwe's Ngoni Makusha, ranked 254th place finished first in 10.30 seconds, while Togo's Fabrice Dabla -ranked 449- came in second after finishing the sprint in 10.57 seconds. Third is Nicaragua's Elliot Romero, ranked 718, who finished the race in 10.62 seconds.
According to the rules of the event, first three in each heat and the one who maintains the fastest speed in fourth place would advance to the first round. Saaid failed to beat his personal best (national record of the Maldives) which is 10.33 seconds.
Although he was unable to qualify for the first round of the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020, he had achieved first place in the preliminary round of the 100-meter race in the 2016 Olympics held in Rio, Brazil and proceeded to compete in the first round, making him the first athlete in South Asia to pass the preliminary round with a time of 10.43 seconds.
Hassan Saaid has achieved many victories in international competitions during the course of his career. This includes attaining a gold medal in the 100-meter race and a silver medal in the 200-meter race of the Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG). Furthermore, Saaid was the first athlete to bring a gold medal to the Maldives in international competitions.
In the 2016 South Asian Games, Saaid received a silver medal in both 100-meter and 200-meter races. In addition to achieving a silver medal in the 200-meter race of the 2019 IOIG, he also received a gold medal in the 100-meter race and a bronze medal in the 200-meter race during the South Asian Games, that same year; this led to him being dubbed the fastest man in South Asia. Additionally, Saaid obtained a gold medal in the Indian Grown Pre and Malaysian Opening.
In a tweet posted after Saturday's race, Saaid said that this is the end of his 2021 season, adding that it has helped him "become a much stronger person".
