After he bagged Aspire’s first gold medal at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Aspire Academy student-athlete Owaab Barrow, described his win as a great motivation in his preparation for the upcoming international competitions, including the Doha 2019 IAAF World Championships in Athletics.
Barrow said that it’s been a really good season for him. He competed in the World Championships, where he reached the semi-finals, and won gold at the Youth Olympics. He said that winning the gold medal in the Youth Olympics was his biggest target for the season. Accomplishing that with a gold medal has been pure happiness for him.
I owe Aspire academy a huge thank you because they helped me achieve my targets. Aspire has not just coached me, but also provided me with the best care and facilities I could have hoped for. Now I only have to go on and achieve more victories with the Academy. My advice to anyone else striving for the top is to never doubt yourself and never stop training.’
Ivan Bravo, the Director General of Aspire Academy, congratulated Owaab on his accomplishments.
Owaab’s achievements are the result of the cooperation agreement between the Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) and Aspire Academy. Now in its third year, this unifying vision improves athlete performance and give them access to world-class experience, facilities and training at Aspire Academy.’
According to Lee Christopher, Sprints, Hurdles and Relay Coach at Aspire Academy and Owwab’s coach, Owaab is very experienced in racing in different climates.
He raced in East Asia and various places in Europe in the cold. He is ready and able to compete in any environment. This was a nice step forward for him and hopefully he can use it as a springboard onto even better things.’
Aspire Academy’s Head Coach for Athletics, Tom Crick, said he is looking forward to seeing Owaab compete for Qatar at the Khalifa International Stadium next year. He said that Aspire has been working closely with QAF to develop a relay programme that will give up-and-coming sprinters like Owaab an opportunity to compete.
Owaab also competes in 100m and 200m sprints. He is currently ranked Number 1 in the world at 110m hurdles for his age (17). He also made the semi-finals in the 100m hurdles at this year’s U-20 IAAF World Championships in Finland. He is now being considered for a position on the Qatar 4 x 100m team relay at the Doha 2019 IAAF World Championships.
For updates and more information about the athlete development programme at Aspire Academy, visit aspire.qa.
