Yousef Ahmed Masrahi (Arabic:يوسف مسرحي) (born 31 December 1987, in

Najran Najran ( '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Najran Province. Today, the city of Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As of the 2022 census, the city population was 381,431, wi ...

) is a Saudi Arabian

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete, who specialises in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

sprint. His personal best time for the event is 43.93 seconds, set in 2015, and is the Asian record. Masrahi represented his country at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and is a three-time participant at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

(2009, 2013, 2015). He was the gold medallist at both the

Asian Athletics Championships The Asian Athletics Championships is an event organized by the Asian Athletics Association. History The competition courted controversy with the IAAF when political in-fighting arose after Israel was excluded from participation in 1977. That edi ...

in 2011 and at the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

. Masrahi served a four year competition ban from 2016 to 2020 for an anti-doping violation related to the use of EPO.

Career

His first international outing came in middle-distance events at the

2007 Asian Indoor Games The 2007 Asian Indoor Games ( zh, 2007年亞洲室內運動會; ), officially known as the 2nd Asian Indoor Games and also known as Macau 2007, were held in Macau, China from 26 October 2007 to 3 November 2007. Most events of the games took place ...

. He failed to finish in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

, but set a national indoor record of 4:11.28 minutes in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

heats. He won his first medal at the competition in the

4×400 metres relay A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pro ...

, taking the

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

alongside Hamdan Al-Bishi,

Ali Al-Deraan Ali Saad Al-Deraan (; born 17 April 1990) is a Saudi Arabia, Saudi athlete competing primarily over the 800 metres distance. He represented his country at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, 2015 World Championships, reaching the semifinals ...

and Hamed Al-Bishi. In the 2008 season he was based in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and began to run in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

and 400 metres instead, setting best times of 21.80 and 46.45 seconds in the events.Youssef Al-Masrahi
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2011-07-10. Masrahi won the national title over 200 m in 2009 and improved his 400 m best to 45.84 seconds in Riyadh, gaining the "B" qualifying standard. He represented Saudi Arabia at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

, but was knocked out in the 400 m heats. He was the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

ist in the distance at the

Arab Athletics Championships The Arab Athletics Championships () is an event organized by the Arab Athletics Federation. It traditionally occurred every two years. It was not held in 1985 due to the schedule clash with the Pan Arab Games. However, due to the erratic scheduli ...

and also won the relay title with Saudi Arabia. At the

2009 Asian Indoor Games The 2009 Asian Indoor Games (), officially the 3rd Asian Indoor Games () and also known as Vietnam 2009, were a pancontinential indoor multi-sport event held in Vietnam from 30 October till 8 November 2009. This was the last edition of the event ...

in November Masrahi was just beaten to the 400 m title by Ismail Al-Sabiani, another Saudi runner, but the pair teamed up in the relay to set a Games record and national record time of 3:10.31 minutes. The

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

was his focus for the next season and he gained selection after winning a 200/400 m double at the national championships. He ran personal best of 45.48 seconds in the heats of the 400 m at the Asian Games, but was little slower in the final and took the bronze medal. With the relay team he anchored the men home to a Saudi national record of 3:02.30 minutes, running with Al-Sabiani, Mohammed Al-Salhi and Al-Bishi to win the Asian Games title. The next year, he won the 400 m gold medal at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Japan, and also won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the relay. In 2014, he won the gold medal for the men's 400m in 44.6 sec. He set his personal best, the Asian record during the qualifying heats of the 2015 World Championships, finishing barely ahead of Rusheen McDonald who was credited with the same time, 43.93 which at the time ranked both men in the top dozen in history. With two more rounds to run, McDonald was unable to qualify for the final, while Masrahi did, but his remarkable speed was not present in that final where even his personal best would only have been good enough for fourth place.

Anti-doping violation

Masrahi was banned from competition for four years from 15 June 2016 (prior to the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

) to 13 July 2020 due to a failed drug test due to the presence of EPO.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masrahi, Yousef Ahmed Living people 1987 births People from Najran Saudi Arabian male sprinters Olympic athletes for Saudi Arabia Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Saudi Arabia Asian Games bronze medalists for Saudi Arabia Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Athletics Championships winners Asian Athletics Championships medalists 20th-century Saudi Arabian people 21st-century Saudi Arabian sportsmen Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Saudi Arabia Islamic Solidarity Games silver medalists for Saudi Arabia Arab Games gold medalists Military World Games gold medalists for Saudi Arabia Military World Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Arab Athletics Championships winners West Asian Athletics Championships winners