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Bahrain's Birhanu Balew completed a sensational long-distance golden double yesterday at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Balew won the men’s 5,000 metres final by the narrowest of margins to add to the crown he won earlier in the men’s 10,000m at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.
Balew’s triumph headlined the kingdom’s three-medal haul on the final day of the track and field competition yesterday in this year’s Asiad.
The quartet of Aisha Abdullah, Sufian Abdulghani, Zainab Fyofuoba, and former world champion Salwa Eid Naser secured silver in the women’s 4x400m final, while Nelly Korir narrowly missed out on a middle-distance double after finishing as the silver-medallist in the women’s 800m final.
With those results, 13 of the kingdom’s 20 medals won until yesterday came in athletics, where Bahrain’s star distance runners and sprinters bagged nine gold, two silver, and two bronze.
Balew capped his memorable showing in Aichi-Nagoya by securing his gold medal double for the second straight edition of the Asian Games.
The 30-year-old put in a strong finishing kick to win in 13 minutes 30.79 seconds and pip Japan’s Tomonori Yamaguchi by a mere 0.64 seconds at the finish line. Gulveer Singh from India was not too far back to climb the podium as bronze-medallist in 13:32.75.
Bahraini Abdikani Hamid was also part of the 18-runner field. He finished over a half-minute behind Balew in 14:02.19.
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s sprint quartet clinched their silver medal after finishing their relay in 3:30.21.
They were just beaten by gold medal winners India, who triumphed in 3:29.69, while China came away with bronze in 3:31.02.
In the women’s 800m final, Korir was looking to add to her gold medal in the women’s 1,500m but came home behind Hongjiao Wu from China in another tight finish.
Wu was victorious in 2:04.49, while Korir followed in 2:05.16. Victoria Bossong from the Philippines captured the bronze medal in 2:05.34.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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