DOHA: Olympic 100 metres champion Justine Gatlin of America was the guest of honour at the opening of the Media Centre for the Doha Super Grand Prix yesterday.

Gatlin and US woman runner Aliyson, accompanied by Qatar's world champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen, attended the ceremony. Gatlin, joined Brig Dahlan Al Hamad, President, Qatar Association of Athletics Federation, in cutting the ribbon to mark the opening of the Media centre.
Brig Dahlan said Friday's championship would be a great one.

"There are many strong athletes this year -- quite a few Olympic champions and junior world champions," said Dahlan Al Hamad.
Dahlan said the status of the Doha Grand Prix was always on the rise and he promised that the Qaaf would do everything possible to organise yet another memorable championship on Friday.

"Our Grand Prix has got the 'Super' status and we believe that it's a recognition to our ability to organise the event without any complaints. So we are keen to maintain our clean record," Dahland said.
Meet Director Khalid Al Meer also predicted a wonderful day of athletics tomorrow.

"We have some great athletes taking part, including a woman from Bahrain - the first athlete to take part in our Grand Prix from a GCC country," he said.
He added that the number of Qataris participating in the meet too had gone up.