Manama: Bahrain enjoyed an impressive second day at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics in Cali, Pascual Guerrero, Colombia.
Rising young athletes Salwa Eid Naser and Dalila Abdulkadir Gosa advanced to the medal round of their respective disciplines.
Salwa was victorious in the third and last semi-final heat in the girls’ 400 metres, earning her place in the final.
Dalila, meanwhile, won her girls’ 1,500 metres heat to advance to the title-deciding run.
The pair were the only two Bahrainis competing on the second day of the biennial IAAF event, which is being held for the ninth time.
It is the premier global meeting for the world’s best athletes aged 17 years and below.
In the girls’ 400m, Salwa continued her impressive start in Cali by claiming her second successive victory. She completed her semi-final in 52.99 seconds, well ahead of runner-up Roxana Gomez of Cuba who finished in 53.61s. Andrea Klos of Romania was third in 53.93s.
Just as she had done on the first day of the championships, Salwa advanced for the next stage as one of the top three runners from all heats.
Lynna Irby of the US had the fastest qualifying time of 52.77s, while Kyra Constantine of Canada was second best at 52.88s.
The medal round was scheduled to take place early this morning.
In the 1,500m, Dalila was triumphant in heat number two while also being the fastest overall amongst all qualifiers.
Dalila had a season’s best time of four minutes 18.61 seconds. She finished ahead of Bedatu Hirpa of Ethiopia who had a time of 4:19.34, while Joyline Cherotich of Kenya was third in 4:19.96.
Both Bedatu and Joyline were also amongst the round’s fastest trio, as heat one was won by Adanech Anbesa of Ethiopia in 4:28.70.
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