Bahraini quartet begin their medal hunt in Tokyo

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s bid for an athletics medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games goes up a notch today with four athletes in action at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium. They include Al Siddique Mikho in the Men’s 1,500m Heats, Abdelrahman Mahmoud in the Men’s Shot Put Qualification, and the pair of Birhanu Balew and Dawit Fikadu in the Men’s 5,000m Heats.

Mikho will be the first to take to the track today at 3.16 am, Bahrain time when he competes in the first of three heats in his distance. He will be one of 16 runners in the race and will need to finish in the top six or be one of the six fastest losers to advance to the semi-finals. Mikho heads into the event with a season’s best of three minutes 33.81 seconds, not far from his personal best of 3:33.31.

There are a total of 48 athletes in the Men’s 1,500m first round. The semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday. For Mahmoud, he will be in Group A of the Men’s Shot Put Qualification, starting at 1.15 pm, Bahrain.

He is one of 16 athletes in the group and must have a throw of 21.20 metres or be at least amongst the 12 best performers to advance to the final. Group B also has 16 athletes, who all hope to make it to the medal round, slated for Thursday. Mahmoud has a season’s and personal best of 21.15m.

In the Men’s 5,000m Heats, Balew will be in the first of two races at 2 pm, Bahrain time, amongst a field of 20. He will need to be amongst the top five finishers or five fastest losers to make it through to the final, which will be held on Friday. Fikadu is racing amongst another group of 20 in the second heat, set to start at 2.20 pm, Bahrain.

Balew has the fastest time of 12:57.71 for this year and a personal best of 12:56.26, while Fikadu’s top career mark is 13:10.40. The quartet is part of Bahrain’s 13-athlete team in Tokyo.

John Koech and Winfred Yavi have already appeared for the national team in their respective Steeplechase races, with Koech pulling out of the men’s event due to injury and Winfred advancing as the fastest qualifier from the women’s heats to their final.