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Al-Sabee ready to leap into pages of Saudi history
SYDNEY, Sept 13 (AFP) - Long jumper Hussein Al-Sabee is on the threshhold of becoming the first Saudi Arabian in any sport to win an Olympic medal, his coach Bedros Bedrosian tipped Wednesday. "He has the potential, and I see him creating an enormous surprise. He has confidence in himself, he has matured and is training very hard, Bedrosian said. Al-Sabee ranks eighth in the world this year with a best leap of 8.33m. Bedrosian predicts 8.55m will take the long jump gold in Sydney, with 8.30m also good enough for a place on the podium. World champion Cuban Ivan Pedroso has the world's best performance of the year with an 8.65m set in Germany in June, followed by American Melvin Lister with a best of 8.49m and fellow Cuban Luis Felipe Meliz on 8.43m. The 20-year-old Al-Sabee became the first Saudi Arabian to pass 8.00m when he won gold at the Pan-Arabian championships in Jordan last year. Since taking Romanian Bedrosian as coach in February, he has made rapid progress, training at altitude in Sierra Nevada before rounding off his preparations with 45 days in South Africa. In Jakarta two weeks ago he achieved his personal best of 8.33m, beating by five centimetres his previous best set in April when winning the long jump at the Gulf championships.
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