Qatar's 28-year-old veteran Daham Najm Bashair stole the spotlight from dual world champion Rashid Ramzi by winning the last 10 meters over the Bahrain athlete at the men's 1500m race final here on Sunday.

Bashair, who overtook the lead from Kyrgyzstan's Sergei Pakura since the third lap but lost it to Ramzi's teammate Belall MansoorBelal with 300 meters to go, burst in the last sprint, clocking 3 minutes and 38.06 seconds for the title.

Belal settled for a silver medal with a narrow deficit of 0.02 seconds, and Ramzi, who gained the Bahrain nationality in 2001, was third in 3:38.91.

Last year in Helsinki, the Morocco-born athlete, who left his hometown for Bahrain in making it easier of himself to step up from junior to senior level racing, made the history after coming out the first to win both the 800m and 1500m races at a world championships.

Having broken the 29-race unbeaten streak in the 1500m of eventual champion Hicham El Guerrouj six weeks before the 2004 Olympic Games, he was seen as one of the favorites in Athens, but failed to qualify for the final after finishing 11th out of 12 finishers in the semis. 

Editor: Donald