LONDON: Shot putter Sultan Al-Hebshi and middle distance runner Mohammed Shaween open Saudi Arabia’s campaign in the 12th World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany on Saturday when they compete in the men’s shot put and men’s 1,500 meters at the Olympic Stadium.

The men’s shot put is one of three medal events up for grabs in the morning session, which opens with the 20-kilometer walk followed by the 10,000 meters. Shaween, 23, is seeing action in the heats of his event during the afternoon session.

Al-Hebshi and Shaween are part of the eight-man Saudi team entered in the blue riband event that has attracted 2,000 athletes from 202 countries. The number of Saudi athletes was down by two to eight compared to last year as only a few passed the stringent qualifying standards. They did training camps all season long in the country and abroad including in Ukraine, Poland, Morocco, Germany and the United States.

The others who made the Kingdom team are long jumpers Hussain Al-Saba, 30, and Mohammed Al-Khuwalidi, 28, 400m runner Ismael Al-Sibyani, 20, middle distance (800m) runner Mohammed Al-Salihi, 23, and long distance (5,000m) runners Hussain Al-Yami, 26, and Moukheld Al-Otaibi, 29.

Discus thrower Sultan Al-Dawodi, 24, would have been the ninth player on the team but he was banned by the world athletics body after the result of his WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) drug test came back positive, according to a SPA report on Aug. 11.

The country’s best finish in the worlds was a bronze medal courtesy of Saad Shaddad in the 3,000 meters steeplechase in 1995 in Sweden. Shaddad clocked 8 minutes and 12.95 seconds.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced in its official website this event will be subject to the most comprehensive anti-doping program ever conducted by the IAAF including both drug testing and awareness campaign. More than 1,000 samples will be collected, both before and during the competition in Germany.

IAAF President Lamine Diack said: “All this anti-doping work is done to protect them, and so that in Berlin we can join together and celebrate their achievements. However, for those athletes who still consider that they need to cheat to succeed both blood and urine samples collected from this event will be analyzed and even stored by the IAAF for future analysis should new prohibited substances or methods become detectable.”