Abdalelah Haroun wins the 400m at the IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016 (© Getty Images)
This is one of the most open events of the IAAF Continental Cup, given the presence in each team of at least one proven top-level performer.
Qatar’s world bronze medallist Abdalelah Haroun is currently fourth on the 2018 world list thanks to his winning time of 44.07 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London.
But the 21-year-old cannot afford to take anything for granted given the presence of his highly talented contemporary, Botswana’s Baboloki Thebe, who has run 44.54 this season and won the African title last month.
Nathan Strother of the Americas has run 44.34 this season, and his teammate Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic, despite having only clocked 44.59 this season, has huge experience of top-level events, having won silver at the 2012 Olympics as an 18-year-old and world bronze a year later.
Europe field the 23-year-old Briton who won the European title in Berlin last month, Mattew Hudson-Smith, who has run 44.63 this season, and 30-year-old Kevin Borlee of Belgium, who won the same title eight years earlier.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF
