OLYMPICS – TEAM Bahrain continued their participation yesterday at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Askerbii Gerbekov bowed out from the men’s judo competition following a tough loss in his opening match, while Saud Ghali came third from three competitors in his 200 metres breaststroke race in men’s swimming.
With both appearances yesterday, Team Bahrain signed off from the judo and swimming events at the French capital.
The national delegation’s focus now turns to their remaining three sports: athletics, weightlifting, and wrestling. The athletics events get underway tomorrow, while weightlifting and wrestling start next week.
Gerbekov was upset in his round of 32 match against Vedat Albayrak of Turkey at Champs de Mars Arena. He bowed out after Albayrak won by ippon during golden score, which is sudden-death overtime.
Gerbekov was given three shidos, or minor violations, during their contest. The first was for non-combativity, and the other two for false attacks.
Despite the abrupt ending to Gerbekov’s Olympic campaign, the 28-year-old made history as the first-ever athlete from Bahrain to compete in men’s judo at any Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, in swimming yesterday at Paris La Defense Arena, Ghali posted a finishing time of two minutes 22.31 seconds in his race. Bernhard Tyler Christianson of Panama took the win in 2:15.62, while Julio Horrego of Honduras came second in 2:18.91.
Ghali had a reaction of 0.68s at the start. His times across each of the four 50-metre splits were 31.38s, 36.05s, 36.71s, and 38.37s.
There were four heats in all in the opening stage of the 200m breaststroke. Only the 16 fastest went through to the semi-finals, which were held later in the day yesterday. Ghali was 25th amongst the swimmers that competed.
Bahrain Olympic Committee vice-president and Team Bahrain’s delegation head Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa attended yesterday’s swimming events along with other Team Bahrain officials.
Shaikh Isa was also joined by Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SAPC) president Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal Al Saud and SAPC vice-president Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed at the venue.
Bahrain’s star swimmer Amani Al Obaidli was also on hand to support her fellow-athletes. Al Obaidli had on Monday set a new national record and personal best in the women’s 100m backstroke – a fantastic achievement for Team Bahrain as they kicked off their Paris 2024 campaign.
Amongst Team Bahrain’s Olympians who are still to compete in Paris, Winfred Yavi, Salwa Eid Naser, Kemi Adekoya, Rose Chelimo, Tigist Gashaw, Eunice Chumba, Nelly Jepkosegei, and Birhanu Balew are all set to take to the track and the road in athletics; Lesman Paredes and Gor Minasyan will be competing in weightlifting; and Akhmed Tazhudinov will be hitting the mat in wrestling.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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