Ak Hafiy Tajuddin Pg Rositi reacting after breaking his personal best in the 400m at the London Olympics. He will be competing in the World Championships in Moscow.Picture: BT file
National runner Ak Hafiy Tajuddin Pg Rositi will be departing for the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championships in Moscow today.
Ak Hafiy will be taking part in the 400m heats at the Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday, which will be another big test for him in his athletics career after taking part in the 2012 London Olympics.
Two hundred and six nations will be taking part in the August 10-18 world meet, which Ak Hafiy expects to be just as tough as the Olympics.
"It will be the same as the Olympics because all the world class athletes will be there,"Ak Hafiy told The Brunei Times.
"During the Olympics my nerves were high before the race but I had to stay positive and keep myself pumped up.
"I will just pray to Allah and have faith when the time comes," added Ak Hafiy, who smashed his personal best at the Olympics with a time of 48.67s.
In order to enter the 400m, the IAAF have set the entry at 45.28s for the A standard and 45.60s for the B standard.
Although Ak Hafiy's time doesn't meet the required standard, the IAAF allows each country to send one unqualified male or female athlete to participate in one individual event except for the 10,000m, 3,000m, steeplechase and the combined events.
Ak Hafiy clocked 51.02s at last year's World Indoor Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, where he finished fifth in the six-man heats.
He also competed at the 2011 World Championships 2011 in Daegu, South Korea, where he finished last in his heats with a time of 50.12s.
Ak Hafiy told The Brunei Times on Friday that national coach Isidrol del Prado has helped him a lot along the way.
Del Prado has also been in the process of getting Ak Hafiy ready for the next month's 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games that was postponed in April.
After the World Championships, Ak Hafiy will have one month to prepare for the Islamic Games that will be held from September 22 until October 1 in Palembang, Indonesia.
Ak Hafiy will also only take part in the 400m event at the Islamic Games, where he has a better chance of winning a medal.
"We can count on this as a warm up since we are preparing for the upcoming Islamic Solidarity Games," said del Prado.
"We are hoping he can do his best despite a decline in his training due to the fasting month.
"I know that Ak Hafiy is determined... And this experience will make him better because he will be competing against world class athletes," added the Filipino.
