(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Fawad Hussain I The Peninsula DOHA: Top Qatari sprinter Abdalleleh Haroun yesterday raced to 400m victory at the London Stadium, setting a new national record and his personal best during the 11th IAAF Diamond League meeting of the season in London.
Haroun, 21, clocked 44.07sec to better his previous personal best of 44.27 for victory over his opponents.
American sprinter Paul Dedewo ended as runner-up after finishing the race in 44.43 while Grenada's James Kirani finished third with a time of 44.50.
Haroun was delighted with the win, which he said came after putting a lot of effort in build up for the competition.
'Before I came here I was training so hard and my coach told me that because he wanted me to do the best once again and not to care about anyone else. In the final 150m it's always so difficult to push but I gave it everything and to have the national record is something special, the Qatari athlete said after the win, before expecting a tough race in the finals.
'The finals won't be easy because we also have the Asian Games at the same time but I love racing full stop so every race to me is a huge final, he said.
Following the win, Haroun stretched his qualification standings lead to 35 points with his American counterpart Dedewo occupying second place in the competition with 17 points.
Dedewo, who also marked his new personal best in London yesterday also seemed satisfied with his result.
'I love the stadium. It's my second time here and it's already my favourite place to race. The race went well and for a second I thought I had the lead until Haroun came out. He's so competitive when we've been racing each other all year.
'Last year my personal best was in the 45 second mark and now I have the opportunity to race against the world's best and it's something I won't take for granted, he added.
Qatar's 400m hurdle star, Abderrahman Samba, who shifted his focus to 400m race in London failed to finish among top three but he impressed with fifth position, completing the race in 44.62 his new personal best.
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