Bahrain’s best to go for world athletics gold

TDT | Manama                                                 

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Twelve Bahraini elite athletes have qualified to compete at the upcoming World Athletics Championships 2022, taking place July 15 to 24 in Oregon in the US. The meeting is the biggest international event for track and field, and it is set to feature nearly 2,000 top-class athletes from all across the globe.

The Bahraini contingent features five women and seven men who have each either met the entry standard of their discipline or booked their place via their world ranking. This is according to statistics made available by World Athletics, the sport’s global governing body, although the final national team list is still to be announced by the Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA).

Among the women who have qualified to compete at the worlds are sprinters Edidiong Odiong and Aminat Jamal, while distance-running specialists Kalkidan Gezahegne, Winfred Yavi and Eunice Chumba have also earned the right to go for gold.

For the men, those who secured their tickets for Bahrain are distance runners Birhanu Balew, Dawit Fikadu, John Koech, Marius Kimutai, Shumi Dechasa and Abdi Ali Gelelchu; as well as shot-putter Abdelrahman Mahmoud.

The full Bahraini squad for the worlds is expected to be finalised soon, with some of the Kingdom’s top athletes already in their final preparations leading up to the highly anticipated event. Entries Edidiong qualified for two events at the worlds, including the women’s 100 metres and women’s 200m.

She met the entry standard for both disciplines, clocking a mark of 11.05 seconds in the 100m and 22.43s in the 200m, which is a national record. Also looking to compete in the sprints is Aminat, who qualified by her world ranking for the women’s 400m hurdles. She is ranked 48th with 1,181 points.

Bahrain’s Kalkidan earned her qualification for the women’s 10,000m by beating the entry standard with a run of 29 minutes 50.77 seconds. According to World Athletics, however, Kalkidan has withdrawn from competing in Oregon, although this has yet to be confirmed by the BAA. Winfred will be one of Bahrain’s best hopes for winning a medal at this year’s worlds.

She qualified for the women’s 3,000m steeplechase with a world-leading time of 8:56.55. Winfred will be hoping to continue her impressive form on the biggest stage. Completing Bahrain’s roster of qualified women athletes is Eunice in the marathon. She beat the entry standard with a mark of 2:20:02.

On the distaff, Bahrain’s Balew qualified for both the men’s 5,000m and men’s 10,000m. He met the entry standard for both, having run 13:03.20 for the 5,000m and 27:07.49 for the 10,000m. Countryman Fikadu also qualified for the 5,000m as next best by world ranking, where he is 65th with 1,160 points.

Koech also qualified as next best by world rankings for the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, being 63rd with 1,162 points; while Mahmoud qualified as next best by world rankings for the men’s shot put, being 53rd with 1,154 points. Bahrain’s Kimutai, Dechasa and Gelelchu all qualified for the men’s marathon by their entry standards. Kimutai had a mark of 2:06:54, Dechasa’s was 2:06:59, and Gelelchu’s 2:07:15.