Aziz Zakari
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Abdul Aziz Zakari (born September 2, 1976) is a Ghanaian athlete specializing in the 100 metres. He was born in Accra, Ghana.<ref name="beijing">Template:Cite web</ref>
Participating in the 2000 Summer Olympics, he made it to the final of the 100 metres, but failed to finish after becoming injured at about the 35m mark.
Also participating in the 2004 Summer Olympics, he achieved second place in his 100 metres heat, thus making it through to the second round. Heading into the second round, he was victorious in a tough sprint, before achieving qualification from his semi-final. This good form was not able to continue, as he failed to finish in the final, staged on August 22, renowned as possibly the fastest collective 100 metre race in history, where six of the seven finishing athletes completed the race in ten seconds or less.
He finally, for the first time, achieved a sub-10 second run on June 14, 2005, in Athens when he ran 9.99 seconds in Asafa Powell's world record breaking race. The Ghanaian record currently belongs to Leonard Myles-Mills with 9.98 seconds.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In July 2006, Zakari was reported to have failed a drugs test for the banned substance stanozolol. The test was conducted In-Competition on 29 April 2006 at the IAAF Grand Prix Meeting in Dakar.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 25 September 2006 the IAAF suspended him for two years. After his suspension Zakari participated at the 2008 Summer Olympics in which he ran the fourth time in his 100 metres heat, behind Richard Thompson, Martial Mbandjock and Simone Collio. His time of 10.34 was the third losing time after the 10.25 of Nobuharu Asahara, advancing him to the second round. There he improved his time to 10.24, but finished in fifth place of his heat, causing his elimination from the competition.<ref name="beijing"/>
Personal bests
Outdoor
| Distance | Time | Wind | Location / Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 9.99 s | + 0.5 m/s | Rieti / 28 August 2005 |
| 200 m | 20.23 s | + 0.2 m/s | Algiers / 14 July 2000 |
Indoor
| Distance | Time | Location / Date |
|---|---|---|
| 60 m | 6.63 s | Boston / 1 February 2003 |
See also
References
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External links
Template:Authority control Template:Footer All-Africa Champions 4 × 100 m relay Men Template:Footer African Champions men's 100 metres Template:Footer African Champions men's 200 metres Template:Authority control
- 1976 births
- Living people
- Ghanaian men sprinters
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes for Ghana
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
- Doping cases in the sport of athletics
- Ghanaian sportspeople in doping cases
- Athletes from Accra
- Commonwealth Games athletes for Ghana
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Ghana
- African Games gold medalists for Ghana
- African Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
- African Games bronze medalists for Ghana
- African Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 All-Africa Games