Bahrain set new Games records in the women’s 4x400 relay and men’s 5,000m as the kingdom’s athletes added two gold medals to the country’s tally in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, yesterday.
Muna Mubarak, Oluwakemi Adekoya, Zenab Mahamat and Salwa Eid Naser blazed their way to victory in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3m, 27.65sec, bettering the previous mark of 3m, 28.68sec, set by India in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
Running the first leg, Mubarak created the lead with a time of 48.54sec before passing the baton to Adekoya – for whom this was her fourth gold medal in the Games – who clocked 54.94sec in the second leg.
Handed the baton for the third leg, Mahamat was clocked at 52.83sec and Naser closed the race out in style with a time of 51.34sec.
India picked up the silver medal, clocking 3m, 27.85sec while Sri Lanka claimed the bronze with a time of 3m, 30.88sec.
Meanwhile, long-distance runner Birhanu Balew shaved almost nine seconds off the previous Games record of 13m, 26.13sec, set by Qatar’s Mohamad Algarni in the 2014 Asian Games, by clocking 13m, 17.40sec, on his way to clinching gold in the men’s 5,000m race.
India’s Avinash Mukund Sable claimed the silver with a time of 13m, 21.09sec while Dawat Fikadu Admasu capped off another good day for Bahrain in the athletics competitions by clocking 13m, 25.63sec.
But there was disappointment for Marta Hirpato Yota in the women’s 800m final with the Bahraini athlete finishing sixth with a time of 2m, 5.65sec, nearly two seconds behind gold medallist, Sri Lanka’s Mudiyanselage Dissanayaka, who clocked 2m, 3.20sec.
Bahrain are now ninth in the medals list, with nine gold, one silver and five bronze medals.
The gold medal tally might rise even further today if Bahrain manage to beat Qatar in the final of the handball competition and long-distance runner Shumi Dechasa Leche manages to triumph in the men’s marathon and either of Eunice Chumba or Desi Jisa Mokonin wins the women’s marathon.
n Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa lauded the outstanding results achieved by Bahraini athletes in the Asian Games.
Shaikh Khalid praised the performances of the Bahrain national athletics team, who have bagged 15 medals so far.
In a telephone call with the national handball team, Shaikh Khalid praised the qualification of the Reds to the final after beating Japan, wishing the national squad success in the final.
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