Bahrain athletes continue gold rush
Baku : Bahrain produced more gold-medal magic to top the athletics medal table ahead of Azerbaijan on the final day of track and field competition at the Islamic Solidarity Games yesterday.
Three gold medals, one silver and one bronze were Bahrain’s harvest on the 13th day of the games, which kept them on top of Arab countries with 21 medals in total (12, 5, 4).
On a wet evening in Baku, the Olympic stadium track was laden with surface water, which made conditions difficult for the athletes.
But that didn’t stop the Bahrainis as Sadik Mikhou ran a perfect 1500-metre race to clinch the men’s gold medal.
The heavens opened just as the race got underway, but Mikhou burst clear in the final 200 metres to claim gold with a time of 3 minutes 36.04 seconds which sealed Bahrain’s ninth athletics title.
Morocco claimed the other two podium places as Fouad Elkaam went one better than the bronze he won in 2013. He grabbed silver in 3:37:81 while his countryman Brahim Kaazouzi took bronze.
The Gulf state’s 10th gold arrived shortly after as Abraham Cheroben produced a masterful performance to win the men’s 10,000-metre title.
Cheroben, who finished 10th in the Ryo Olympic final, was neck-and-neck with Turkish duo Ali Kaya and Kaan Kigen Ozbilen until the final 400 metres, but he surged clear on the final lap to finish well ahead of his rivals in a time of 27 minutes 38.76 seconds.
Ozbilen (27:41:99) took silver while his compatriot Kaya, the 2013 champion, faded badly to miss out on the medals as Moroccan Soufiyan Bouqantar clinched bronze.
Bahrain signed off in athletics with 11 golds - one ahead of the Azeris - as their female sprinters waltzed to victory in the 4x400-metre relay final.
The 400-metre individual gold medallist Salwa Eid Naser produced a rapid first leg before 200-metre gold medallist Edidiong Ofonime Odiong, Aminat Jamal and 400-metre hurdles champion Oluwakemi Adekoya finished things off in 3 minutes 32.96 seconds.
A strong Nigerian team featuring 400-metre bronze medallist Yinka Ajayi took silver (3:34:47), while Turkey were awarded bronze after Morocco’s disqualification.
Rose Chelimo came close to adding another gold for Bahrain, but she was edged by Turkey’s Yasemin Can, who stormed to an impressive gold medal in the women’s 10,000 metres.
Can’s time didn’t threaten her personal best of 30:26.41 that she set at the Olympics last year in finishing seventh, but she still crossed over 30 seconds clear of silver medallist Chelimo (31:37:81) and the UAE’s Alia Mohammed (31:49:01), who retained the bronze she won four years ago.
Alia, the Asian Games and Asian championships gold medalist, finished ahead of defending champion Shitaye Eshete, as the Bahraini only managed a fourth-place finish.
Turkey continued on the gold-medal trail, as Osman Can Ozdeveci hurled 19.83m in the first round to clinch the men’s shot put title.
Sultan Alhebshi of Saudi Arabia grabbed silver with an effort of 19.56m, while Uzbekistan’s Sergey Dementev took bronze.
Turkey rounded off yesterday with their third gold of the day in the very last race as they secured the 4x400-metre men’s relay title.
Enis Unsal, Batuhan Altintas, Sinan Oren and Yavuz Can timed 3:06:83 to seal Turkey’s eighth athletics gold.
Pakistan finished superbly to gain silver ahead of Oman as a strong Bahrain team - featuring 400-metre individual gold medallist Ali Khamis Khamis and 200-metre silver medallist Salem Eid Yaqoob - slumped to fourth.
Hussain Al Hizam secured Saudi Arabia’s second athletics gold as he dominated the men’s pole vault final.
The 19-year-old produced a clearance of 5.55 metres on his fourth attempt to wrap up the title, while 2013 bronze medallist Romdhana Mohamed Akine went one better as he took silver on 5.30m.
Algeria’s Hichem Khalil Cherabi grabbed bronze.
Morocco finished on seven golds as they secured a one-two finish in the men’s 400-metre T12 disability final.
Mahdi Afri made light work of the rest of the field to clock 49.64s and finish ahead ahead of compatriot Ayoub Haimouda.
Elsewhere, Adam Batirov captured a fine 6-5 win over Uzbekistan’s Ikhtiyor Navruzov to seal the men’s freestyle 70kg bronze medal for Bahrain medal at Wrestling Heydar Aliyev Arena.
The Asian champion was in superb form in the early stages of the competition, but faced gold medal winner Mostafa Hosseinkhani in the semi-finals, where the Bahraini went down 4-8 to the Iranian opponent to end his gold medal dream.
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