MUSCAT: Oman athletes clinched two more gold medals on the concluding day to raise the tally to eight medals in the fourth edition of the West Asian Athletics Championship in Qatari capital of Doha from April 26 to 29 at the tracks of Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium. Oman’s eight medals included four gold, three silver and one bronze.
The newly claimed gold medals were in men’s triple jump finals and men’s relay 4X100 m finals on Saturday. Oman’s long jumper Salim al Yarubi managed to earn his second gold medal as he won triple jump after clearing 15.55 metres while the silver medal went to Kuwait’s Talal al Salim who registered a jump of 14.27 metres. UAE’s Salim al Balushi took the bronze as he cleared a distance of 13.56 metres. Salim al Yarubi claimed gold medal in men’s long jump competition on Friday. He cleared a distance of 7.54 metres.The second gold medal for Oman on the last day of the West Asian event came in men’s relay 4X100 metres team which included Oman’s fastest sprinter Barakat al Harthy, Ali al Balushi, Rashid al Asmi and Mohammed al Saadi. The Omani team finished the distance in a timing of 39.43 seconds. The silver medal was claimed by the Saudi team as they registered a time of 39.86 seconds while Qatar came in third as they clocked 40.17 seconds and Iraq team ended in fourth place with a timing of 41.03 seconds. The registered timing of Omani team in the event was among the best records of West Asian meet in this edition.
Omani athlete Hussain al Farsi broke the national record in men’s 1500 metres race as he finished in fourth with a timing of 3 minutes and 46 seconds.
On the second day, Salim al Yarubi claimed gold medal in men’s long jump competition. He cleared a distance of 7.54 metres to clinch the gold. Also, Oman’s sprinter Hussain al Farsi snatched silver medal in the men’s 800-metre race with a timing of 1 minute 50.14 seconds. Dhuwa al Sinawi bagged the second silver medal for Oman in women’s hammer throw as she registered a throw of 46.01 metres.
On the opening day of the competition, sprinter Mazoon al Alawi got gold in the women’s 100m hurdles race in a time of 14.35 seconds. Moreover, Mazoon captured bronze medal in the women’s 100m race with a timing of 11.8 seconds. Fatik bin Abdulghafoor Bait Jaboob won the silver in high jump when he leapt over the 2.05m bar.
After completion of all the events in the championship, Qatar topped the medal’s table with 28 (including 13 gold) medals and then Bahrain came as runners-up with 13 medals (9 gold). Iraq were third with 24 medals (8 gold) and Oman in fourth place with eight medals (four gold).
The fourth edition of the West Asia Athletics Championship for men and women (Qatar 2023) featured participation of many athletes representing 12 countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Oman and hosts Qatar.
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