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Qatari 400-meter runner Abdalelah Haroun died in a car accident in Doha, the Qatar Athletics Federation said on Saturday. He was only 24.
Abdalelah won a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships.
The federation’s secretary-general, Mohammed Issa al-Fadala, said Qatar’s sport and athletics “lost a great hero” worldwide. “He was in a rehabilitation program after recovering from an injury (in preparation) to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics,” al-Fadala said.
The Olympic Committee in Qatar also mourned the loss on Saturday.
“The #Qatar sprinter and global 400m bronze medalist Abdalelah Haroun passed away today,” it posted on Twitter – along with a black-and-white photo of the athlete smelling a flower and the Qatari flag.
Haroun, of Sudanese descent, first represented Qatar in 2015 and stole the spotlight in his early days by recording remarkable times of more than 400 meters.
He finished third in 44.48 seconds at the IAAF World Championships in London in 2017, behind South African winner Wayde van Niekerk and Bahamas athlete Steven Gardiner.
Haroun also obtained silver at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland and gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.