Fifty-Three-year-old Khamis Abbas says he simply cannot recollect the five minutes following the completion of the men’s 400m event at the Asian Athletics Championship. “I was watching the race, praying to god that my son does well. The moment the race finished, my mind went completely blank! Five minutes later, when I calmed down, I found myself on the running track,” he narrates.

Abbas’ son, 18-year-old Ali Khamis won the silver in the men’s 400m, a race he was running only for the second time in a competitive event. Khamis finished behind defending champion, Saudi Arabia’s, Yousef Masrahi, clocking a time of 45.65 seconds. The five minutes that Abbas Khamis doesn’t remember involved Ali Khamis crossing the finish line, Abbas leaping from the stands, shoving away two stewards who tried to stop him and enveloping his son in a bear hug, with tears streaming down both their faces.

Khamis, who turned 18 on June 30, says that he was naturally quite nervous before the start of the race.

“I was nervous when I lined up for the event. However, I must thank God for allowing me to keep my wits about me when I ran,” he says. Running against Masrahi, who has a Diamond League win to his credit, actually helped Khamis.

“Masrahi was fast but his pace allowed me to push a little harder. Also the Japanese runner who came third (Yuzo Kanemaru) was snapping at my heels and that meant that I couldn’t lose any ground,” he says.

The youngest of five brothers, Khamis’ father works as a security guard in a Bahraini company. Khamis started running when he was in school and seemed to have a natural aptitude for the track. “He did not have a coach nor did he ever undergo any formal training. I guess its just a gift that he has,” says his proud father. Khamis was spotted by talent scouts at a school meet and was drafted into the development squad of the Bahrain team three years ago.

… contd.

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