Qatar’s Rashid Al Hajri crossed the finish line at the 125th Boston Marathon to become the first Gulf Arab to finish the six biggest marathons in the world.
Qatar Olympic Committee on Monday confirmed Rashid Al Hajri as the first Gulf Arab to finish the six biggest marathons in the world.
The Qatari champion clinched the title after completing the 125th Boston Marathon on Monday with a time of 3:32:29, ranking 5,696th out of 8,775 runners.
The athlete has already successfully completed marathons in Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.
Congratulations! #Qatari Champion Rashid Al-Hajri completed the Boston Marathon, making him the first #GCC athlete to finish all 6 major world marathons: #Tokyo, #London, #Berlin, #Chicago, #NewYork and #Boston.
.#WeAreTeamQatar 💪🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/xNRTaP7d6L
— Team Qatar 🇶🇦 (@qatar_olympic) October 11, 2021
The milestone achievement means Qatar will now be among the countries represented on the Abbott World Marathon Majors’ Wall of Fame, which honours finishers of the world’s six greatest marathons.
Al Hajri managed to complete the Tokyo marathon with a time of 3:36:36 in March 2019, a year ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Qatari athlete was then honoured by the country’s Ministry of Culture and Sports under its Youth Committee.
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“I participated because sports is open to everyone and it has never been about competing over medals as much as it is a personal message,” the Aspire Academy graduate said in a statement to Al Kass channel ahead of the Boston Marathon.
“Sports is a lifestyle more than a competition,” he added.
The athlete started his journey towards international sports recognition in 2018, where he first completed three of the greatest marathons in the world: London, Berlin, and New York.
In 2019, he crossed the finish lines at both the Chicago and Tokyo marathons and followed up with this year’s victory in Boston.