Kuwaiti champion Yousef Karam gave his country a historic medal at the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships, held at Khalifa International Stadium in the Qatari capital Doha, after winning the men’s 400m gold – the first of its kind for Kuwait in this event across the history of the Asian Championships.
Karam clocked 44.84 seconds, a new national record, to beat Bahrain’s Abbas Abubaker, who finished second for silver in 45.14 seconds, while Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Litvin came third for bronze in 45.25 seconds.
The race was missing our champion Abdalelah Haroun, who was sidelined by a thigh injury sustained in training a few days before the championships began.
Karam celebrated wildly after the race in honour of the achievement, having put his country on the podium on day two of the Asian Championships.
Ibrahim Al Dhafiri won a fresh medal for Kuwait, but in the men’s 800m, finishing second behind our champion Abubaker Haydar, who took gold.
Al Dhafiri clocked 1:46.88, while our other champion Jamal Hiran took bronze.
