Distance runner Mo Farah and spin bowler Moeen Ali cemented their place as British sporting greats this summer (Photo: Creative Commons)
Athletics
IAAF World Championships London August 4- 13, 2017: Mo Farah missed out on a fifth major championships distance double in a row as he finished second in the 5,000m at the World Athletics Championships. The 34-year-old, who won 10,000m gold the previous week, was swamped by his rivals in the final lap and Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris broke clear to win gold. Four-time Olympic champion Farah will finish his track career with a record of 10 golds and two silvers in major championships. He is set to focus on marathons after his final track appearance at the 5,000m Diamond League final in Zurich on August 24.
Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim secured the global high jump title his talent has promised for so long when he completed a faultless series in the World Championships, culminating in a winning leap of 2.35 metres. The Qatari, whose 2.43m best is the second-highest in history after Cuban Javier Sotomayor’s 2.45 set 24 years ago, has won silver and bronze at the last two Olympics and silver at the 2013 World Championships. But he was a class apart, having qualified without fail he went through the final never looking remotely close to dislodging the bar. Majd Eddin Ghazal of Syria cleared 2.29 to take bronze – his country`s first world championship medal for a man.
Kori Carter defeated her teammate Dalilah Muhammad to take home gold in the women’s 400m hurdles. Carter managed to beat out the Olympic champ to claim gold in 53.07 seconds. In an open race, it was Muhammad who produced her customary fast start, leading the race by a clear margin over the first 200 metres. Carter’s form held up best over both the penultimate and the final hurdle, allowing the 25-year-old to push for home and hold off the challenge of her compatriot who had to settle for silver.
World Championships (Muslim medalists)
Gold Medalists:
High Jump Mutaz Essa Barshim-QAT
5000m Muktar Edris ETH
200m Ramil Guliyev-TUR
10000m Mo Farah-GBR
100m Relay Adam Gemili-GBR
Silver Medalists:
5000m Mo Farah-GBR
3000m Steeplechase Soufiane Elbakkali-MAR
400m Hurdles Dalilah Muhammad-USA
Bronze Medalists:
400m Relay Rabah Yousif-GBR
400m Abdalelah Haroun-QAT
High Jump Majd Eddin Ghazal-SYR
5000m Sifan Hassan-NED
Football
Transfers: July 14 – August 14
Sofiane Feghouli from West Ham to Galatasaray for £3.87m
Mamadou Thiam from Dijon to Barnsley FC for an undisclosed amount
Soufyan Ahannach from Almere City FC to Brighton & Hove Albion FC for an undisclosed amount
Issam Ben Khemis from FC Lorient to Doncaster Rovers FC for free
Idris Kanu from Aldershot Town FC to Peterborough United FC for an undisclosed amount
Aboubakar Kamara from SC Amiens to Fulham FC for an undisclosed amount
Idriss Saadi from Cardiff City FC to Strasbourg for an undisclosed amount (*deal to be completed in January)
Ahmed Elmohamady from Hull AFC to Aston Villa for £1 million
Ahmed Hegazi from Al Ahly to West Bromwich Albion FC on loan
Ali Al-Habsi from Reading to Al-Hilal to for an undisclosed amount
Mukhtar Ali from Chelsea Vitesse Arnhem for an undisclosed amount
Sofien Moussa unattached to Scottish Premiership Dundee FC
Cricket
Moeen Ali is on his way to becoming a “world-class spin bowler” after sweeping up the man of the match and player of the series accolades against South Africa.
Ali joined Sir Ian Botham in becoming an England all-rounder to take 25 wickets and score more than 250 runs in the same series as he helped finish off South Africa at Old Trafford. His five for 65 on August 7 followed a hat-trick in the Oval Test and ten wickets at Lord’s and was capped with an unbeaten 75 in Manchester as South Africa were beaten 3-1 in the series.
South Africa’s captain Faf Du Plessis admitted feeling envious of England’s Ali. “He [Moeen] is a real dangerous cricketer and any captain would love to have him on their side,” Du Plessis said. “He is an unbelievable off-spinner. He is just one guy of a few all-rounders in their team that is so destructive.”
