The athletics powerhouse

Bahrain wins four gold medals on the second day of athletics at Asian Games

The result took Bahrain’s medal tally to nine medals in total, including four gold, three silver and two bronze.

Bahrain clinched four gold medals, one silver and two bronze at the 18th Asian Games, being held in Jakarta and Palembang. On the second day of athletics, Rose Chelimo raced to victory in the women’s marathon on Sunday with a time of two hours 34 minutes and 51 seconds to give Bahrain its maiden gold medal of the games. Keiko Nogami of Japan trailed in second place for the silver medal after clocking 2:36:27, while Kim Hye-song of North Korea was third with 2:37:20.

Chelimo led the pack since the starting line with both Nogami and Kim tightly trailing until the 35th kilometer, where they started to lose pace. Chelimo became the first athlete representing Bahrain to win a gold medal in the World Championships marathon in 2017 in London by clocking 2:27:11.

The full marathon event kicked off at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Central Jakarta with a turning point near the National Archives in West Jakarta and ending at the stadium. Late on, Bahrain added four more medals, also in athletics. Bahrain’s other gold medals were won by Salwa Eid (women’s 400m), Edidiong Odiong (women’s 100m) and Hasan Shani (men’s 10,000m).