Asian success a springboard for Qatar athletics as Beijing worlds mark new stop, delivering technical and administrative gains for QAF

Our national athletics team closed the chapter on its outstanding participation in the 21st Asian Athletics Championships, hosted by the Chinese city of Wuhan from 3-6 June, with 500 athletes representing 45 Asian countries competing over five days with great honour and enthusiasm to deliver their best performances and reach the podium for coloured medals. As usual, Qatar athletics asserted its dominance and deservedly topped the men’s overall standings

Asian leadership .. Qatari

Our national team’s champions topped the men’s standings with ( 10 ) medals – ( 7 ) gold, ( 2 silver ) and ( 1 bronze ) – while China led the overall championship standings, combining men’s and women’s results, with ( 41 ) medals: (15 ) gold, ( 13 ) silver and ( 13 ) bronze. India finished third with 13 medals – 4 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze – Japan fourth with 4 gold, 3 silver and 11 bronze, Bahrain fifth with 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze, and the UAE sixth with 3 gold and 1 silver

Golden champions

As ever, our stalwarts delivered in the Chinese city of Wuhan, proving their worth to the continent by claiming ( 10 ) medals – 7 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze – through the champions ( sprinter Femi Ogunode – gold in the ( 100 m , 200 m ) ) ( Mohamed Al Garni, gold in the 1500 m and 5000 m ) ( Abdalelah Haroun, gold in the 400 m ) ( Musaab Abdulrahman, gold in the ( 800 m ) ) ( gold in the 4×400 m relay for the quartet Ogunode, Musaab, Haroun and Al Nour ) ( Ashraf Al Seify, silver in the hammer ) ( Hisham Salah, silver in the 3000 m steeplechase ) ( Mutaz Essa Barshim, bronze in the high jump )

Qatar’s smallest yet most productive squad

Numerically, Qatar’s team at the Asian Championships was the smallest, at ( 15 ) athletes, but it was the most productive, with ( 10 ) medals – ( 7 ) gold and ( 2 ) silver and ( 1 bronze ) – confirming the federation’s sound approach and planning in building a strong squad capable of achieving the stated goal of winning medals and cementing Qatar’s prestigious standing on the continental and international stage. The Qatar squad was made up of ( Mutaz Barshim, Femi Ogunode in the 100 m, 200 m and 4×400 m, Samuel Francis in the 100 m and 200 m, promising sprinter Abdalelah Haroun in the 400 m and 4×400 m, Musaab Abdulrahman in the 800 m and 4×400 m, Jamal Hairan in the 800 m, Mohamed Al Garni in the 1500 m and 5000 m, Hisham Salah Abbas in the 3000 m steeplechase, Mohammed Al Nour in the 4×400 m, Ashraf Al Seify, Ahmed Deeb Al Mughanni and Rashid Al Mannai in the triple jump, Mohammed Al Mannai in the decathlon, Mu’ammar Barshim in the high jump, and Jamal Abdunasser in the 400 m hurdles ).

Asia begins to awaken

It can be said honestly and without flattery that the continent has begun to wake up numerically in an attempt to keep pace with the major powers, through record participation by a large number of countries under the Asian Athletics Association, and clear technical interest through recruiting world-class coaches, as well as media and public attention. With ( 18 ) of the ( 45 ) countries winning medals, this reflects the scale of competition and the spread of medals across the continent, confirming that the continent has begun to rise and challenge the giant trio in East Asia – China, South Korea and Japan – who long dominated continental competition. Recently, though, things have changed with the emergence of new powers such as ( Qatar, India, Sri Lanka, Bahrain and the UAE ), which took the lion’s share of the medals.

27 .. the Arab medal haul

Arab champions overall won ( 27 ) medals: (13 gold ) ( Qatar 7 gold ) ( Bahrain 3 gold) ( UAE 3 gold) and ( 11 silver ) ( Qatar silver ) ( Bahrain 3 silver ) ( UAE 1 silver ) ( Saudi Arabia 3 silver ) ( Kuwait 2 silver ) and ( 3 bronze ) ( Qatar 1 ) ( Bahrain 2 )

Administrative and technical achievements

Qatar secured numerous administrative and technical gains, with HE Dahlan Al Hamad elected unopposed as president of the Asian Athletics Association for the next four-year term starting in 2015, in addition to

the selection of three Qataris – “Mohammed Suleiman, Abdulhakim Al Omari and Mai Al Mohammadi” – to the federation’s working committees for the term, with Suleiman on the cross-country committee, Al Omari on the technical committee and Al Mohammadi on the women’s committee.

Delegation returns home

The first group of our national team’s delegation returned home safely from Wuhan after completing its mission and claiming the Asian title, while another group left for Spain to continue its training programme ahead of the challenge of the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China

Facts and figures

## China fielded the largest delegation with ( 199 ) athletes, followed by Japan in second with ( 81 ) competitors, India third with ( 61 ), Chinese Taipei with ( 49 ) competitors, South Korea with ( 35 ) competitors and Iran with ( 43 ), while our team competed with ( 15 ) athletes. Bhutan had the smallest delegation, with just one athlete.

## Eight continental records were set, split evenly between men and women, including two by Qatar, through Femi Ogunode in the 100 m and the 4×400 m relay team.

## A total of ( 906 ) people were registered for the championships, of whom ( 598 ) were athletes, with the rest made up of organisational and technical staff, coaches and others who contributed to the event’s success.

## 3,000 Chinese volunteers, made up of university students and professors, helped make the championships a success, working with dedication and devotion to present the Asian event at a standard that enhanced China’s reputation as a destination for hosting major championships.

Overall medal standings of Asian teams – men – women

/ Gold / Silver / Bronze / Total medals

1 – China / 15 / 13 / 13/ / 41 /

2 – Qatar / 7 / 2 / 1 / / 10 /

3 – India / 4 / 5 / 4 / /13 /

4- Japan / 4 / 3 / 11 / / 18 /

5- Bahrain / 3 / 3 / 2 / / 8 /

6- UAE / 3 / 1 / – / /4 /

7- Uzbekistan / 2 / 1 / 1 / / 4 /

8- Chinese Taipei / 1 / 4 / 1 / / 6 /

9- Kazakhstan / 1 / 3 / 3 / / 7 /

10 – South Korea / 1 / 1 / 1 / 3 /