Some three hundred athletes, 36 different nationalities, as many as 12 defending champions from the last edition, and the world’s largest multi-purpose indoor hall—the three-day Asian Indoor Athletics Championships couldn’t have asked for a stronger field and a better setting.
The seventh edition of the biennial event begins at the majestic and state-of-the-art Aspire Dome today, the second time Qatar is hosting the event after 2008. The same facility also hosted the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

A general view of the Aspire Dome, venue of the Asian Indoor Championships.

The event carries added significance this time as it is being held in the Olympic year, with the Rio Games just a little more than five months away.
“It’s going to be three pulsating days of top-class athletics action,” said Major General Dahlan al-Hamad, the president of both the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) and Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF), yesterday.
“I couldn’t have asked for a bigger and better field. The best athletes of Asia are all here, many of them hoping to use this event as a stepping stone to Olympic glory.
“We hope this turns out to be one of the best indoor athletics competitions ever held in Asia. Our experienced personnel have put everything in place as we aim to deliver yet another memorable competition here in Doha.”
“I also expect many athletes to meet the qualification standards for the upcoming IAAF World Indoor Championships, the winter period’s flagship competition, which will follow in four weeks’ time in Portland, USA,” the QAF chief added.
Among the big draw stars in the already stellar line-up are Olympic triple jump champion Olga Rypakova from Kazakhstan, and high-jump icon and Olympic bronze medalist Mutaz Barshim, the biggest among the local names.
Barshim is in good form, having cleared the 2.34m mark in Malmo, Sweden, last month, and has already hinted that he would be aiming to better his best jump of 2.41m here.
If he manages to win the high jump competition, it would be a record fourth successive haul for any athlete in these championships.
The same holds true for Qatari sprinter Samuel Francis, who will be gunning for a fourth Asian Indoor 60m title today evening.
The 28-year-old Francis, coming off an injury-plagued 2015 season, said he has overcome the injuries and is looking forward to defend his title.
“I’m really psyched, and ready to just go out and run,” said Francis, whose career best of 6.54 in the 60 metres dates back to 2008.
“My training’s been great and I feel good about myself. I hope it will be a good outing at home before local fans.”
In all, as many as 12 athletes will be vying to defend the titles they won two years ago in Hangzhou, China.
Among the local names aiming to duplicate their 2014 success are Francis (60m), Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla (800m), and Mohamed al-Garni (1500m & 3000m), besides Barshim.
Mahdi Zamani and Maryam Toosi from Iran will also be looking to defend the 400m titles they captured in Hangzhou two years back as will be Kuwaitis Abdulaziz Almandeel (60m hurdles) and Saleh Alhaddad (long jump), and Japan’s Tomomi Abiko in pole vault.
Indian shot-putter Om Prakash Karhan should succeed in his quest for back-to-back Asian Indoor titles.
Uzbek high-jumper Svetlana Radzivil is likely to face a strong competition from compatriot Nadiya Dusanova to repeat her 2014 showing.
Kazakhstan’s Elina Mikhina is the defending 4x400m champion and would be keen for a repeat feat. Mikhina would also be running the 400m.
Hosts Qatar have fielded their
largest ever delegation—a 28-strong team consisting of 21 male and seven female athletes—beating their previous record of 19 athletes (15 men, four women) in 2008.
Ahead of the Asian Indoors, the Asian Athletics Federation also held its council meeting in Doha, which was attended, among others, IAAF chief Sebastian Coe.
Among the key decisions that were arrived at during the meeting are: confirming the Indian city of Ranchi as host of the next Asian Championships; naming Bangkok as host of the 2017 Asian Youth Championships from May 16-19; reconfirming Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, as host of the 2016 Asian Junior Championships from June 3-6; giving the hosting rights of the 2016 Asian 20km Racewalking Championships on March 20 to Nomi-shi, Japan (a qualifying event for the Rio Olympic Games); and awarding the 2017 Asian Marathon Championship, to be held in April, to the city of Shanghai.

TODAY'S FINALS
*Women’s Long Jump (18:35)
*Men’s High Jump (18:40)
*Women’s Pole Vault (19:05)
*Women’s Shot Put (19:40)
*Women’s 1500m (20:20)
*Women’s 60m (20:35)
*Men’s 60m (20:45)
*Women’s 800m Pentathlon (21:25)