BAHRAIN’S elite athlete Birhanu Balew put on a fine performance at the 57th Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic.
Balew finished a strong second out of 24 starters while posting a new personal best in the men’s 3,000 metres.
The event was a part of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Challenge Meetings.
Balew was one of the leading names heading into the race, having also finished second in the men’s 5,000m at the Stockholm Diamond League meet in Sweden earlier this week.
The Bahrainis eventually matched his finishing position in the shorter race. He posted a time of seven minutes 38.25 seconds, not far behind Ethiopian winner Selemon Barega who clinched first place in 7:37.53.
Balew’s mark was the best so far of his career in the distance. He shattered his old mark of 7:44.29, which he had set in 2016 in Berlin.
The rest of the race’s top five were all Berega’s countrymen. Telahun Bekele, Chala Regassa and Abadi Hadis were classified third through fifth, respectively. Bekele battled hard with Balew as he finished in 7:38.55, as did Regassa who timed in in 7:38.78. Hadis completed the top five in 7:39.10.
Rounding out the race’s top eight were Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Burundi, Soufiyan Bouqantar of Morocco and Ben True of the US.
Balew was the only Bahraini athlete competing in Ostrava.