Bahrain Achieves Two More Gold Medals and Sets New Asian Games Records at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
On the final day of athletics action at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Bahrain's women's 4x400 meters relay team, comprising Muna Mubarak, Kemi Adekoya, Zenab Moussa, and Salwa Eid Naser, secured the gold medal. Meanwhile, Birhanu Balew clinched the men's 5,000 meters gold, completing a remarkable long-distance double, following his earlier victory in the men's 10,000 meters.
Dawit Fikadu also earned a bronze medal in the men's 5,000 meters alongside Balew.
These accomplishments brought Bahrain's total medal count at the Hangzhou Games to 15, including nine gold, one silver, and five bronze medals. This performance placed Bahrain ninth on the national delegation rankings based on the number of gold medals and 15th overall in the total medal count among the 36 participating countries.
With the conclusion of track and field events, Bahrain's athletics team has only two events remaining today, both road races in the men's and women's marathons, scheduled to start at 2 am and 2:10 am Bahrain time, respectively. The multi-sport Asian Games will conclude on Saturday.
In the women's 4x400 meters relay final, Bahrain's team held a strong position from the beginning, maintaining their lead throughout the race. Despite fierce competition, anchor Salwa Eid Naser secured victory for Bahrain, resulting in a new Asian Games record with a total winning time of 3:27.65, narrowly beating the previous record of 3:28.68 set by India in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. Kemi Adekoya and Salwa Eid Naser added to their gold medal hauls in Hangzhou, with Kemi winning her fourth gold medal at these Games and Salwa securing her second gold.
In the men's 5,000 meters final, Birhanu Balew and Dawit Fikadu were among the favorites. Balew pulled ahead in the last lap, winning in a time of 13 minutes 17.40 seconds, setting a new Asian Games record. This was Balew's second gold in Hangzhou and third overall in his Asian Games career. He successfully defended his 5,000 meters title from the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. Sable claimed silver for India, while Fikadu secured bronze, marking his first Asian Games medal.
In other events, Bahrain's Marta Yota finished sixth in the women's 800 meters final, and the men's 4x400 meters relay team did not participate in their final.
Today, Bahrain will have three athletes participating in the marathons, with Shumi Dechasa representing Bahrain in the men's race and Eunice Chumba and Desi Mokonin competing in the women's race.