Bahraini sprinter and former world champion Kemi Adekoya wins women’s 400m hurdles for a golden treble at Asian Games

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahraini sprinter and former world champion Kemi Adekoya clinched her third gold medal at the 19th Asian Games yesterday in Hangzhou, China.

Kemi won the women’s 400 metres hurdles title and did it in style, setting a new Asiad record in the process. Her victory added to the gold medals she won in the women’s 400m and as part of Bahrain’s mixed 4x400m relay team.

Kemi’s gold was the highlight of the national delegation’s medal bids yesterday on the fifth of seven days in track and field events at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.

The Kingdom’s athletes would have also come away with a bronze medal in the women’s 4x100m relay.

The quartet of Fatima Mubarak, Edidiong Odiong, Zenab Moussa and Hajar Alkhaldi finished third in their final, but were later disqualified.

Yesterday’s single-medal haul thus brought Bahrain’s count to 12 overall in Hangzhou so far.

The tally includes seven gold, one silver and four bronze medals—earning the Kingdom’s sports heroes ninth on the medal ranking table based on gold and 16th based on total.

Bahrain remained the top-ranked Arab country from the 35 nations to medal.

This year’s Asian Games are headed to its concluding days, with the multi-sport extravaganza scheduled to come to a close on Saturday.

In the women’s 400m hurdles final, Kemi was competing alongside fellow-Bahraini Aminat Jamal.

Kemi had a strong start and was the clear leader around the final bend.

The 400m world indoor champion of 2016 maintained a comfortable gap down the home straight until the finish, crossing the line solo and winning in 54.45 seconds.

Her time was a new Asian Games record, beating the previous mark of 55.09s w h i c h K e m i clocked herself in the 2014 Asiad in Incheon, South Korea.

Aside from capturing her third gold in Hangzhou, 30-year- old Kemi also brought her Asian Games honours record to five gold medals. She had previously won the 400m hurdles and 400m titles in Incheon.

Jiadie Mo of China took silver in 55.01s, while Vithya Ramraj of India claimed the bronze in 55.68s, narrowly snatching the final podium place from Aminat, who finished in 56.84s.

Disqualified

Meanwhile, in the women’s 4x100m relay final, Fatima started things off with a solid run in the opening leg but had trouble passing the baton to Edidiong, which would later prove crucial.

Zenab then took over before handing off the finishing duties to Hajar, who put in a fine run down the last stretch to cross the finish line in third.

The Bahrainis should have come away with the bronze medal, but they were later disqualified for passing the baton outside the takeover zone, leading to an early or late takeover.

China won the gold, Thailand silver and Malaysia were promoted as bronze-medallists.

Also yesterday on the athletics track, Bahrain’s men’s 4 x 4 0 0 m relay team qualified for their final race.

They finished fourth in their first-round heat, which was enough to earn them a place amongst the eight squads who will be vying for the medals.

The Bahraini foursome included Musa Is a h , Abbas Yusuf Abbas, Hussain A l Doseri and Abbas Abubakar Abbas, and they finished their fourlap sprint in 3:07.38, which was their season’s best.

The final will be held today at 3.35pm, Bahrain time, and the other teams to qualify were Iraq, South Korea, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Qatar and Thailand.

Also advancing to her final was Marta Yota in the women’s 800m.

She was competing in the first of two heats and finished second in 2:06.85.

It was the fifth-quickest of the round, and Marta will be amongst a field of eight that will be going for gold today at 2.25pm, Bahrain time.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Tigest Mekonen and Bontu Rebitu were sixth and seventh in the women’s 5,000m final.

Tigest finished the race in 15:36.58, while Bontu clocked a mark of 15:49.05.

In the men’s triple jump final, Bahrain’s Oumar Mahamat was ranked ninth but he clocked a personal best of 15.65m on his second attempt.

Others to vie for medals today amongst Bahrain’s elite athletes are Birhanu Balew and Dawit Fikadu in the men’s 5,000m final, scheduled for a 2.40pm start, Bahrain time.

The women’s 4x400m relay team will also be in action, going for gold at 3.35pm, Bahrain.

Balew will be aiming to complete a long-distance double after having also won the men’s 10,000m gold medal earlier this past week in Hangzhou.