30 years ago, the Lebanese Open Club Championship was thrilling! Even with the Lebanese Men’s Army team and Champville club’s women dominating the championships at the time, the reigning atmosphere was one free of conflict and filled with dignity, loyalty, respect, and most importantly SPORTSMANSHIP. Track and Field was exactly how it should be; pure and virtuous. At this year’s Open Club Championship there were, as expected, many impressive results but also some disappointing results and actions.
Here are the main headlines for the competition: She is one of Lebanon’s most passionate and most dedicated athletes.
She created this site in an attempt to bring closer the athletes of Lebanon and the world and to give them information and articles about the latest news and results so that the world could witness live history being inked.
Her performance during the Lebanese Individual Championship was not as well as she hoped it would be and it put her in 2nd place behind Inter-Lebanon’s Diala El-Khazen. That however, only made Krystel Saneh of Champville even more determined and motivated to show the strong mental power she has, so on the 28th of July she broke both the Youth and the Junior Lebanese national records FOUR consecutive times! She jumped 5m30, 5m32, 5m37, and finally an amazing 5m43 proving to everyone that she is a force to be reckoned with.
Krystel, you have just showed everyone what it means to "ink your own history”.
An extraordinary Lebanese phenomenon, Ahmad Hazer, demonstrated yet again his capabilities and savvy on the track. Earlier during the Lebanese Individual Championship Ahmad wowed us all by running a wonderful 200m race, this time the "Lebanese Lightening” fascinated us with an astounding 10.82s 100m and an outstanding 110m hurdles run where he broke the Lebanese National record yet again from 14.13s to a staggering 14.06s in just 3 weeks. Ahmad’s marvelous performance this year puts him far ahead of other Lebanese athletes with 1056 points; the best performance in men’s sprinting. We are all waiting for Ahmad to run a sub 14 race soon! What a performance Ahmad!
Ali Hazer also ran a terrific 400m hurdles race where he was only 0.3s away from the record! The Hazer brothers’ performance in this championship puts them on top of the scoring table points.
In the 200m race, a new 1st place winner, Moustafa Barakat took the race by storm infront of the army’s Chady Barakat and CSJ’s Michel Zeinaty.
Relay: This unique collective race that determines how cohesive a team really is, is the most exciting of all races and events, hence it takes place on the last day of the competition. During this race an athlete is no longer just an individual playing for him/herself but rather an individual with more responsibility and weight on his/her shoulders; it is in this particular race that teammates support each other and become one another’s backbone and pillar in order to prove which team has the best cooperation and sync.
In the 4x100m Relay, the young team of Champville won the race by a remarkable difference, while in the men’s race it was Ansar’s men who won after snatching first place from CSJ in the last 100m with the assistance of the exceptional Hazer brothers.
The women’s 4x400m relay was dominated by Inter-Lebanon’s sturdy team in front of Champville (2nd) and Jamhour’s (3rd) young team members. Champville’s Lory Tashijian was a primary reason for the team’s last 50m win over Jamhour. The men’s 4x400m also held a similar outcome where Jamhour’s Thomas Semaan, who had just come off a flight 4 hours prior to his race, managed to out run the army’s runner and place Jamhour in the 1st place. Thomas did an excellent job! Inter-Lebanon’s 4x100m men and women were disqualified due to improper transfer of the batons between its athletes.
The young prodigy Mohammad Hannouf who is 18 years of age ran an incredible 800m; he managed to remain very close to the army runners and kept up with them till the end! His outstanding performance earned him a new PB of 1:58.87. Saria Traboulsi is back on the 800m; the discipline that enrolled her in the history book. Saria ran the 800m in 2:19.31 right behind was the child star Sarah-Joe Kortbawi. Saria also ran the 400m in 58.37s thus earning herself a new PB. Great job Saria!
Hoda El Awadi as always ran against her own time and herself on both the 3000m Steeplechase and 5000m. This determined athlete ran very nicely but could not break any of her PBs due to the hot weather conditions.
Abed Berjawi also accomplished a beautiful performance with a new PB of 1.98m in the high jump. Karine Bitchakjian remains the leading lady in the women’s high jump; she has held her record (1.72m) ever since 2000.
This year’s 2011 Lebanese Open Club Championship ended with the same result as last year’s with the 1st place titles for the Lebanese Army team in the men’s category and Inter-Lebanon’s team in the women’s category. No one deserves nor earns a win by being disrespectful, aggressive, and unpassionate about his/her domain. In the old days, the real champions and athletes were those who genuinely fought for their rightful positions through dedication and loyalty to the game and also through their virtue and respect in order to earn the title of Lebanese Champion, and the real teams were those who had the right amount of devotion and commitment to their team members in order to run harmoniously and complete what the other started to perfection. Today, in spite of all the impurities in our beloved game, there are still some who are fighting to make athletics as taintless and pure as it once was.
Aziza Sbeity - Krystel Saneh. |
