ISLAMIC SOLIDARITY GAMES – Bahrain's remarkable gold rush in the sixth Islamic Solidarity Games continued last night with the kingdom’s elite athletics superstars bagging three more gold medals and one silver.
Their winnings on the penultimate evening of competition at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were headlined by the victory of reigning Olympic champion and former world champion Winfred Yavi in the women’s 5,000 metres.
Her triumph secured her golden double in the multi-sport meeting, adding to the gold medal in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase which she won on Tuesday night.
Also striking gold yesterday for Bahrain were ex-world champion and Paris 2024 Olympics silver-medallist Salwa Eid Naser in the women’s 400m, along with Nelly Jepkosgei in the women’s 800m.
Meanwhile, the Bahraini quartet of Layla Kamal, Edidiong Odiong, Raihanah Garoubah, and Hajar Alkhaldi came away with the silver medal in the women’s 4x100m relay.
Last night’s haul brought Bahrain’s medal tally to 23 – matching their overall total from the previous edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games in 2021, held in Konya, Türkiye.
Their collection in Riyadh includes 13 gold, five silver, and five bronze medals so far, won across athletics, weightlifting, judo, volleyball, table tennis, and esports with only two more days of competition remaining today and tomorrow.
In last night’s women’s 5,000m final, Yavi triumphed in a total race time of 15 minutes 43.51 seconds, running the final stages with a comfortable lead. Charity Cherop from Uganda claimed silver in 15:47.01, while Samiya Hassan Nour from Djibouti took bronze in 15:48.28.
Naser put in an ultra-quick run to win the women’s 400m final in 51.59 seconds.
She finished ahead of runner-up Patience Okon George from Nigeria, who clocked a mark of 51.93s, while Uganda’s Leni Shida clinched bronze in 52.72s.
In the women’s 800m final, Jepkosgei emerged victorious in 2:02.59. Halima Nakaayi from Uganda came away with the silver medal in 2:03.14, while Soukaina Hajji from Morocco captured bronze in 2:04.34.
In the women’s 4x100m relay final last night, the Bahrainis were in contention for gold until the home straight, where they were pipped to the finish by Nigeria.
Kamal kicked things off in the run before passing the baton on to Odiong.
Garoubah then took over before handing over the duties to Alkhaldi for the anchor leg.
The Nigerians snatched gold in 44.27s, while Bahrain followed in 44.47s as silver-medallists. Gambia claimed bronze in 45.05s.
The relay silver was the second medal for Odiong in Riyadh. She had previously won gold in the women’s 100m on Tuesday night.
Naser, Odiong, and Jepkosgei will now be aiming to follow in Yavi’s lead and claim their second gold medals of this year’s Islamic Solidarity Games later this evening.
Naser and Odiong will be running in the women’s 200m, which begins with the first-round heats at 10.30am.
The final is scheduled for 8.35pm tonight.
Jepkosgei, on the other hand, will compete in the women’s 1,500m final, scheduled for 9pm.
Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew will also be aiming to secure a golden double tonight when he runs in the men’s 5,000m final at 9.12pm alongside compatriot Abdikani Hamid.
Balew already won the men’s 10,000m gold on Tuesday night.
Rooba Alomari will be trying to do the same in the women’s Para javelin throw F55/F56 final at 9am, to add to her gold from the women’s Para shot put F55/F56 category.
Elsewhere for Bahrain today in athletics, Noora Jassim in the women’s shot put final at 8.55pm.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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