| Abbas Abubakar Abbas | |
| Nationality: | Bahraini |
| Birth Date: | 1996 5, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Kano, Nigeria |
| Height: | 1.75 m |
| Weight: | 66 kg |
| Country: | Bahrain |
| Sport: | Athletics |
Abbas Abubakar Abbas (Arabic: عباس أبو بكر عباس; born 17 May 1996) is a Nigerian-born Bahraini athlete sprinter who competes internationally for Bahrain. He was the silver medallist in the 400 metres at the 2014 Asian Games. He has a personal best of 44.90 seconds for the event.
Born in Kano State, Nigeria, he first established himself at the national level with a runner-up finish over 400 metres at the 2012 Nigerian National Sports Festival, finishing behind Orukpe Erayokan.[1] Less than a month later the 16-year-old Nigerian opted to compete for Bahrain, changing his eligibility to the Middle-East state.[2]
Abbas made his debut for his adopted nation the following year at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics. Running in the 400 m, he managed a personal best in the qualifiers with a time of 46.85 seconds.[3] In the final he originally finished in third place, but was disqualified for a lane infraction.[4] He completed a 200 m/400 m double at the West Asian Youth Athletics Championships three months later.[2]
At the start of following track season he was a double medallist at the Arab Junior Athletics Championships, winning the 200 m and placing second in a Bahraini 1–2 of the 400 m, behind Ali Khamis Abbas. He ran two personal bests in those events at the Plovdiv Memorial Vulpev-Bakchevanov that July, timing 21.25 seconds and 45.93 seconds, respectively. At the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics he was a 400 m finalist and despite a slow start managed to take the bronze medal – his first global podium finish.[5] He rose among the senior elite runners at the 2014 Asian Games: two Bahraini junior records came in the qualifiers, first a run of 45.61, then one of 45.17 seconds.[6] He was beaten Youssef Masrahi in the final by over a second, but was still a clear second to take the silver medal at the age of 18.[7] His best time that year ranked him the second fastest junior 400 m runner for the season, just behind world junior champion Machel Cedenio.[8]
