Qatar will mark its 11th appearance at the Summer Olympics in Paris next July. 

Qatar’s Bassem Hemeida’s golden finish in the 400m hurdles event at the Asian Athletics Championships has earned him a ticket to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The 23-year-old hurdler clocked 48.64 seconds to win a gold medal for Qatari athletics in the championship ahead of Japan’s Yusaku Kodama, securing a qualification at the World Athletics Championships 2023 and the Olympics.

Bassem described the moment as ‘indescribable’ in an interview with Qatar News Agency.

After years of dominating on the track, Bassem’s fate was destined to meet the international stage. The young Qatari prevailed at the 2019 Asian Junior Championships where he won a bronze medal.

Alongside Bassem, Qatar’s Abu Bakr Abdullah secured a spot at next month’s World Athletics Championships after winning the 800m gold medal.

Clocking 1:45.53s to bag the title, Abdullah triumphed among the likes of Krishan Kumar of India, who clutched silver with a time of 1:45.88s.

Ebrahim Al Zofairi of Kuwait came third, with Qatar’s Abdirahman Saeed finishing fifth in the race.

Bassem will join Qatari shooter Rashid Saleh Al Athba for the Paris Olympics, who won a direct qualification for the 2024 tournament after claiming bronze in last year’s International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Shotgun Championships.

The two athletes are the only representatives of Qatar to achieve the entry standards for Paris 2024.

Set to kick off from 26 July to 11 August 2024, Qatar will mark it’s eleventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics.