UAE's Mohammed Al Hammadi wins another medal in London, vows to give all to Abdullah Hayayei's children

The Emirati has said he will present all his medals from London - two silver and one bronze so far - to the children of teammate Abdullah Hayayei, who died just before the championships

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - SEPTEMBER 14:  Mohamed Alhammadi of the United Arab Emirates celebrates winning the gold medal in the Men's 800m - T34 Final on day 7 of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on September 14, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  (Photo by Friedemann Vogel/Getty Images)
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Results:

Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.

The UAE's Mohammed Al Hammadi finished second in the men's 800-metre T34 final at the World Para Athletics Championships in London on Thursday, taking his and the country's medals tally to three.

The Emirati, who won gold in this event at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, had to settle for silver behind the Tunisian world champion Walid Ktila.

Al Hammadi had already won a silver medal in the T34 400m three days ago and took bronze in the 100m in the second day of the championships at the Olympic Park in London, finishing behind Ktila on both occasions. He lines up in the wheelchair 200m T34 category in his fourth and final event of the championships on Friday.

After the race, Al Hammadi said he would present all of his medals to the children of Abdullah Hayayei, his UAE teammate who died in a training accident in London just before the championships started, when he returns to the Emirates.

“I have won three medals so far and I want to win a fourth and give them all to the children of Abdullah,” Al Hammadi said. “Abdullah has five children. All the UAE team made this promise to bring medals to them.”

The Emirati's medals represent all of the 15-member UAE squad's haul so far in London. He said he was using the world championships as a "stepping stone" to the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020.

“I have another world championship [in two years] before the Games as well but Tokyo is my main goal,” Al Hammadi said.

Ktila, in Lane 4, was an impressive winner, racking up his third gold of the championships. He bid his time at the back of the field and came round the final bend to power past his rivals to set a new championships record time of 1 minute, 44.79 seconds.

He still has the 200m to come and looks capable of repeating his tally of four gold medals from two years ago in Doha.

Briton Isaac Towers, at the back of the field on the halfway mark, produced an electrifying finish to edge out Australian Rheed McCracken and Henry Manni of Finland for the bronze.

Georgina Hermitage of Britain, in the women’s wheelchair T37 category and Canada’s Brent Lakatos in the men’s T53 are the two others to emulate Ktila’s feat with three gold so far.

Meanwhile, Zeyad Al Harthi could finish only eighth behind Algerian Lahouari Bahlaz in the men’s club throw F42.

Results:

Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.