Balew sets new Asian, national records in indoor 3,000m

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahraini elite athlete Birhanu Balew set new indoor Asian and National records in the men’s 3,000 metres after finishing a solid fourth at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, held Thursday at the Arena Stade Couvert in the commune of Lievin.

The meeting was a World Athletics Indoor Tour-Gold level event part of the sport’s international calendar. Balew completed the race in a total time of seven minutes 31.77 seconds, beating the previous indoor Asian record held by Mohamed Al Garni of Qatar, who set a mark of 7:39.23 in 2016.

Balew finished not far behind winner Lamecha Girma, who led an Ethiopian trio to the top places. Girma had a mark of 7:30.54. Selemon Barega followed as the runner-up in 7:30.66, while Getnet Wale came third in 7:30.88.

A total of 16 athletes started the race, with 13 finishing. It was the third successive year that Balew competed in the meeting. With his Asian and National records, he also set a new personal best, improving on his previous top time of 7:34.58, which he clocked in 2020. Balew was the only Bahraini competing in the Lievin event.