Odiong adds relay gold

Manama : Lined up with some of Asia’s best athletes, the Bahraini nationals were again in top form as they extended their medal haul win. The team of Salwa Naser, Edidiong Odiong, Iman Isa, Hajer Al Khaldi opened Bahrain’s medal haul of the day, taking home the women’s 4x100m relay gold. Odiong picked up her third gold medal of the Asian Games when she led her country to victory, ending China’s hold on the event. The Chinese women had won the last seven of eight gold medals at the Asian Games in the 4x100m but had to be satisfied with silver after the Bahrain team won in a Games record 42.73 seconds. Kazakhstan picked up the bronze.

Bahrain’s Salwa Naser, who also won the 400m gold, finished with four medals at the Games. Odiong’s compatriot Kalkidan Befkadu followed suit, securing multiple golds after adding the 1,500m title to her 5,000m victory which she finished in 4 minutes and 7.88 seconds. She was followed by another Bahraini Tigist Belay (4:09.12), who secured the silver, while India’s Chitra Palakeezh (4:12.56) took the bronze. “Today was very hard, because she’s my friend -- today I’m fighting with her. But we make each other better,” Befkadu said.

Bahrain were dominant in the next challenge as Birhanu Balew and Albert Rop sealed a 1-2 finish in the men’s 5,000m final, clocking 13:43.17 and 13:43.76, respectively, while Saudi Arabia’s Tariq Al Amir (13:56.49) rounded of the podium. Late on, Mohammed Tiouali bagged the men’s 1,500m bronze after coming third in 3:44.72. Jinson Johnson (3:44.72) of India was first, followed by silver medalist Amir Moradi (3:45.62) of Iran. There was even more joy for Bahrain as the relay team of Salwa Naser, Aminat Jamal, Iman Isa and Manal ElBahraoui battled to the women’s 4x400m event in 3:30.61 minutes, finishing just behind gold medalists India (3:28.72), and ahead of Vietnam (3:33.23), who received the bronze.

In the men’s 4x40m relay, Bahrain’s Ali Khamis, Abbas Abubakr, Mousa Isa and Abdulrahman Khamis could only come fifth in 3:03.97. Qatar (3:00.56) captured the gold, with India (3:01.85) winning the silver and Japan (3:01.94) the bronze. Noora Jassim put in a brave performance in women’s discus throw, but was sixth with her best attempt of 51.19 metres. Yang Chen (65.12) of China took the gold medal, followed by compatriot Bin Feng (64.25) and Seema Punia (62.26) who settled for the silver and bronze, respectively. The 21-year-old Odiong had completed the women’s sprint double with the 100m and 200m titles at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium and also won silver in the 4x400m relay later on the final day of athletics at the 18th Asian Games.

“I thank God for giving me three gold medals,” she said. “I am very happy and I am happy for my team mates, they did a marvellous job. I love you all.” Odiong was denied a clean sweep of golds in the 4x400m relay by India, who won a fifth straight title in the event. Bahrain ended another prosperous day on the track finishing with 25 medals from athletics, with 12 gold, six silver and seven bronze and moved up in the medal table to 10th place. China’s Wei Yongli, who recently became the first Asian woman to break the 11-second barrier in 100m sprint, felt the African-born athletes in the Bahrain squad would only help raise the standard of the sport in Asia.

“We are unfamiliar with this team (Bahrain), we don’t know them until today, although it is a pity we didn’t win but we did our best,” Wei told reporters after the 4x100m relay. “This is sports, there is no such thing like unfairness. “I think it is good. With their presence they will bring the standard of Asian sports a tad higher and also help us to push ourselves to improve.”