Liaqat Ali: Life-long dream over in 10.9secs
He could only manage 10.9s, a far cry from his personal best of 10.55s and a fear of committing a false start converted into a poor race and a tragic end.
“I wanted to avoid a false start which is why I was really slow out of the blocks and that ultimately proved fatal for my Olympics journey,” Ali told The Express Tribune. “It was always difficult to narrow down the gap. I gave it my all in the end, only to anxiously miss qualification by 0.1 seconds.”
Liaqat, apart from the quick exit, also rued the fact that he was unable to break the national record of 10.42s or even equal his personal best.
Meanwhile, his mentor Maqsood Ahmed said it was a poor run and the athlete failed to showcase his talent at the biggest stage. Ahmed claimed that if Ali had been sent abroad for training, his results would have been better.
“It was a poor performance but at the same time we must not forget that he had practised on tartan track while in London he had to run on Mondo track,” said Ahmed who emphasised that the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) should start sending athletes abroad for training if they want to take the sport to the next level.
“Athletes need a big boost and I’d request the AFP to start sending them abroad for training so that they can at least bag gold medals at the SAF Games.”
On the other hand, AFP President Akram Sahi said that Ali has been given many chances but he has only disappointed and the federation will be forced to look elsewhere.
“Ali has been given four international events but he has only disappointed us. Now, we’re looking at Imran Niazi as his replacement,” said Sahi. “Liaqat may have done well at domestic level but he lacks the confidence to do well in international events. He had an ordinary run which was very poor.”
Bailey sets marker in 100m heats
Ryan Bailey ran the fastest ever first-round qualifying time in the 100m as the main US and Jamaican favourites all cruised through their heats.
Defending champion Usain Bolt clocked 10.09sec in his heat, positively pedestrian compared to the 9.88sec run by Bailey, a time which matched his personal best. But he said he was happy to be ‘back’ after a rocky run-in to the Games. Yohan Blake timed 10sec dead after turning on the gas in his drive phase and coasting home. Asafa Powell, the third member of the formidable Jamaican trio, won his heat in 10.04sec ahead of teenage British hope Adam Gemili (10.11), with Londoner Dwain Chambers also qualifying as heat winner in a season’s best 10.02. (with additional input from AFP)
Usain Bolt
“I’m feeling good, my legs are feeling good so I’m happy with that. My training is good. I’m feeling back, so I’m happy. My reaction was good but I made a bad step and I stumbled a little bit. I’m glad it happened now.”
Asafa Powell
“I just wanted to get the cobwebs out. I haven’t competed since the trials. Everyone’s been seeing what’s going on out there. The guys are running very fast. It’s a new track and it’s the Olympics. Everyone is ready.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 5th, 2012.
COMMENTS (10)
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good but more then good my friend is a part of big game.
people who blame AFP should first learn what the wild card is. liaquat was given a chance to go to olympic games only by luck not his capability. he failed and his performance is even far from his own personal best made in 2009. now he is 28 yrs old which is not a favourable age in athletics. there are many other international level athletes in Pakistan who are younger and more talented. mr. sahi should consider about it.
Idiotic, nonsensical title - it would have been unthinkable to have read any paper in any other part of the world commenting on one of its own Olympians in this way.
For the AFP president to further compound this with his stupid, crass, ill-timed personal criticism of a competing athlete, it's a miracle that Pakistan was able to field any competitors in the first place.
Liaqat Ali - your journey has just begun...the nation is behind you, brother.
Hasa
there's still a long way to go to get a medal perhaps but well done for competing...hopefully in time to come, things change for pakistani athletes ...best wishes from india for all the rest who are competing..
What strikes me is the ungracious and small minded reaction of mr akram sahi president of AFP. At a time like this to put down an athlete is not right. AFP should of course make its future selection decision on merit but a little more respect for Liaquat would have been nice
It is easy to blame the Federation for lack of training facilities but the truth is that Liaquat Ali's time of 10.9sec is a full second behind international standard for men, it's even slower than the women's champion Fraser-Pryce's time of 10.75sec. This means that Mr. Liaquat would have finished sixth out of eight runners in the women's competition.
Now no amount of international training and exposure is enough to improve and bring this army officer's standard up to the level of professional athletes. It takes technical training from school days onwards and stronger leg muscles through years of strength training in the gym to produce an runner who can match the naturally and genetically gifted super-athletes of Jamaica and USA.
Liaquat Ali Bro dont worry. In the coming months I will try to find sponsors for you and I hope some international or local brand will gave you financing and will give you a chance for training abroad. Unfortunately Zong have given the sponsorship to a Pakistani Sprinter Girl but you were not beautiful enough to be Sponsored in this Perverse nation but hopefully some sponsorship will be found in coming months.
you seriously need to change the title.. the dream isn't over, this is just the first step towards achieving it! Athletes representing us in Olympics is an honour itself, winning a medal is secondary! People who criticise these athletes for losing should first make themselves worthy of even qualifying for any game let alone Olympics!