UAE's Al Hammadi wins gold on final day

Dubai - Al Hammadi finished the race in 1 minute and 44.36 seconds

The UAE's celebrated middle-distance racer Mohammed Al Hammadi delivered as promised, clinching the first gold for the hosts with a championship record as the 2019 Dubai World Para Athletics Championships ended after nine-day of exciting competitions on Friday, a press release said.
Al Hammadi finished the race in 1 minute and 44.36 seconds to claim the top place in men's 800 T34, ahead of Tunisian legend Walid Ktila (1:44.79) and Yang Wang (1:46.04).
Having qualified in the first place, Al Hammadi surged ahead in the last 200 metres to overcome Yang who stayed throughout in most part of the race.
"I am happy from the core of my heart. I fought to win the gold in 100m and 400m races but I couldn't. Today, I got this gold for the UAE. If my people are happy than I am happy. To hear the national anthem at the podium is one of the things that we train for. I will now see my family after a long time," Al Hammadi told the Local Organising Committee after his first Worlds title in 800m T34.
"Like every other athlete, I will be also training hard for Tokyo 2020. The competition will be hard. But I will try to put the UAE flag in the podium," the 34-year-old Rio 2016 gold medallist added on his Tokyo 2020 plans. Among other UAE players, Paralympic medallist Sara Alsenaani finished ninth with a personal best throw of 5.33m in women's shotput F53 final, which was won by Poland's Lucyna Kornobys with a world record effort of 7.81 metres.
Aishah Salem Alkhaaldi ended in 11th spot. The UAE finished joint 33rd with one gold, one silver and a bronze in the medals tally. Overall it was China who topped the medals tally with 59 medals including 25 golds. Brazil (39) and Great Britain (28) followed China. USA ended fourth with 34 medals. Russia, participating in the Championships for the first time after the 2016 doping ban, were sixth with 41 medals.