# Omar Juma Al-Salfa

Omar Jouma Bilal Al-Salfa, Arabic: عمر جمعة بلال السالفة, (born 15 October 1989) is a track and field athlete from the United Arab Emirates who competes in sprinting events. He was a gold medallist at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships and represented his country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
He made his first appearances at major competitions in 2007: he took the bronze medal over 200 metres at the Military World Games in October and then came fourth at the Pan Arab Games with a national record-breaking run of 20.94 seconds. He turned to the indoor circuit at the start of the following season and came fourth at the 2008 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships with a national record of 6.81 seconds for the 60 metres. He was selected for the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships and ran in the heats.
Outdoors he set a national junior record of 10.53 seconds to take the 100 metres title at that year's Arab Junior Championships that, and also went on to win the 200 m gold medal. At the 2008 Asian Junior Athletics Championships he took the gold in the 200 m. He reached the 200 m final at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics and gained a place on the Olympic team for the 2008 Summer Olympics, where he competed in the heats stage of the event.
He improved his 200 m record to 20.72 seconds with a win at the Gulf Championships in May 2009. He competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics and reached the quarter-finals on his debut appearance at the competition. A fourth-place finish over 60 m at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games (with a personal best of 6.72 seconds) was followed by a bronze medal with the Emirati team in the 4×400 metres relay. Al-Salfa won his first major senior title at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships, just dipping ahead of Shinji Takahira of Japan to win the Asian 200 m title. In 2010 he made his first appearance on the IAAF Diamond League circuit running a wind-assisted 10.35 seconds in the 100 m at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix in Doha. He claimed the 200 m bronze medal behind Nigerian-born Femi Ogunode and Japan's Kenji Fujimitsu at the 2010 Asian Games.

## Major competition record

| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
| Representing United Arab Emirates ||||||
| 2007 | Pan Arab Games | Cairo, Egypt | 4th | 200 m | 20.94 (NR) |
| 2008 | Asian Indoor Championships | Doha, Qatar | 4th | 60 m | 6.81 |
| 2008 | World Indoor Championships | Valencia, Spain | 28th (h) | 60 m | 6.88 |
| 2008 | World Junior Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 7th | 200 m | 21.10 (wind: -0.9 m/s) |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 40th (h) | 200 m | 21.00 |
| 2009 | Asian Indoor Games | Hanoi, Vietnam | 4th | 60 m | 6.72 (NR) |
| 2009 | World Championships | Berlin, Germany | 25th (qf) | 200 m | 20.97 |
| 2009 | Asian Championships | Guangzhou, China | 1st | 200 m | 21.07 |
| 2010 | West Asian Championships | Aleppo, Syria | 2nd | 200 m | 21.11 |
| 2010 | West Asian Championships | Aleppo, Syria | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 40.07 |
| 2010 | West Asian Championships | Aleppo, Syria | 4th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:15.44 |
| 2010 | Asian Games | Guangzhou, China | 3rd | 200 m | 20.83 |
| 2011 | Asian Championships | Kobe, Japan | 3rd | 200 m | 20.97 |
| 2011 | World Championships | Daegu, South Korea | 48th (h) | 200 m | 21.45 |
| 2011 | Pan Arab Games | Doha, Qatar | 5th | 100 m | 21.59 |
| 2011 | Pan Arab Games | Doha, Qatar | 3rd | 4 × 100 m | 40.15 |
| 2012 | West Asian Championships | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 1st (h) | 200 m | 21.40 |
| 2012 | West Asian Championships | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:10.80 |
| 2016 | Asian Indoor Championships | Doha, Qatar | 26th (h) | 60 m | 7.11 |
| 2018 | West Asian Championships | Amman, Jordan | 7th (h) | 200 m | 21.75 (w) |