Our national athletics team’s champions shone on the closing day of the 19th Arab Athletics Championships in Bahrain, winning three golds and two silvers in a fitting finale. Qatar’s team raised its tally to 14 medals — six gold, six silver and two bronze — to be crowned champions in the men’s competition and finish third overall, as the women’s medals handed the Arab title to host Bahrain, who finished with 31 medals including 12 gold. Morocco took the runner-up spot with 20 medals including eight gold, while Egypt finished fourth with 18 medals including six gold.
As expected, Qatar’s young women did not win any medals, given their young age and lack of experience compared with the Arab champions, and had to settle for new personal bests. The Arab Championships were a good opportunity for them to prepare for the first Asian Youth and Junior Championships, which Doha will host from 8 to 11 May.
Closing day roundup
The closing day’s haul came courtesy of Femi Ogunode’s 200m gold, Musaab Balla’s 800m gold, gold in the 4x400m relay, Ahmed Mohammed Al Mughanni’s discus silver and Mohammed Al Manai’s decathlon silver.
Second gold for Ogunode
Our champion Femi Ogunode won the 200m gold, having already claimed the 100m gold.
Ogunode ran the 200m in 20.52 seconds, with Oman’s Barakat Al Harthi second in 20.66 and Bahrain’s Yaqoub Salem third in 20.82.
Golden Balla shines
Our golden runner Musaab Abdelrahman Balla shone in the 800m, winning gold in 1:46.74. Saudi Arabia’s Ali Saad Al Doraan took silver in 1:47.03, and Morocco’s Nader Bahlanbal won bronze in 1:47.68.
Relay gold
Qatar’s national team won gold in the 4x400m relay in 3:04.93, with Bahrain second in 3:06.23 and Saudi Arabia third in 3:06.57.
Decathlon silver for Al Manai
Our champion Mohammed Al Manai shone in the decathlon, taking silver with 7233 points. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Al Qurai won gold with 7233 points, and Egypt’s Ahmed Saber took bronze with 7072 points.
Silver for Al Mughanni
Ahmed Mohammed Deeb Al Mughanni took discus silver with a throw of 63.01m, while gold went to Kuwait’s Issa Zankouni with 63.22m and bronze to Iraq’s Mustafa Kadhim with 60.60m.
