Paris, France, July 1, 2018- Qatar's Abderrahman Samba set the second-fastest time ever in the men's 400m hurdles at the Diamond League meet in Paris on Saturday.
The 22-year-old's 46.98sec winning time at the Charlety stadium in southern Paris edged him ever closer to the world record of American Kevin Young set back in 1992. It also beat the season's best of 47.02 set by Antigua's Rai Benjamin, who opted to run the 200m in Paris.
"I've said it before - I want to become the fastest man in the world and I work hard to achieve it," said Samba, who has only been doing the event for two years, but has now added Paris to his list of Diamond League victories that already include Doha, Rome, Oslo and Stockholm this season.
"It feels great to be the second fastest man in history. The world record is getting close but I just want to improve step by step and run fast. I've improved my technique since last year and who knows, maybe I can be one second faster next year!"
Samba's 20-year-old rival Benjamin clocked a personal best of 19.99sec in the 200m behind American world indoor 400m record holder Michael Norman, his training partner, also 20, who clocked an admirable 19.84sec after two false starts.