Barshim, Abubaker and Al Garni… champions of gold
Qatar’s champions, the ambassadors of the mother of sports, wrote a new epic in the competitions of the Incheon 2014 Asian Games, embracing coloured medals and raising the maroon athletics team’s tally of precious-metal medals to six coloured medals, five of them gold and one bronze. Qatar’s ambassadors shone in the eighth day’s challenge through world champion Barshim’s high jump gold, runner Mohammed Al Garni’s 1500m gold, and runner Abubaker Ali Kamal’s 3000m steeplechase gold, plus a bronze in the high jump for the promising young Barshim. As is its custom, our sporting delegation experienced a purely maroon day, filled with pride at seeing “Al Adaam” fly in the sky of South Korea for the eighth time running, in an awe-inspiring scene. Our Olympic and world champion Mutaz Barshim embraced the high jump gold with distinction and merit, showcasing his great talent and high skill that have qualified him for the throne of world and Asian high jump, setting a new record for the Asian Games – Incheon 2014 – of 2.35m, with China’s Zhang Guowei coming second (2.33m), while his younger brother “Moammar Barshim” took third with 2.25m. Barshim, who had set himself the great challenge of setting a world record, attempted 2.40m but was unsuccessful in his attempts. Saudi Arabia’s Nawaf Al Yami finished 13th (2.15m) and his compatriot Hashim Otaibi finished 17th and last (2.10m). World champion Barshim proved his superiority over Asia’s jumpers and in the rest of the track events. Talented Mohammed Al Garni embraced the precious golden double in the Asian challenge, adding the 1500m gold to the earlier 5000m, getting the better of the Asian runners and taking the throne of Asian middle distances, while veteran runner Abubaker Ali Kamal won the 3000m steeplechase gold, and promising young Moammar Barshim claimed the high jump bronze.
The maroon haul
Qatar’s coloured medal haul across our national teams at the Incheon Asian Games rose yesterday to 10 coloured medals, eight gold and two bronze, as follows: gold in trap team shooting, gold in the 25m centre-fire pistol, gold in the 5000m, gold in the 1500m, gold in equestrian hurdles, gold in the 100m, gold in the high jump, gold in the 3000m steeplechase. Bronze in the women’s trap team shooting, bronze in the high jump.
We broke the “Hiroshima” record
Our men of hardship surpassed the medal tally the maroon team had won 20 years earlier at the Hiroshima Asian Games, with a haul of four gold medals, and have so far achieved five gold medals and a bronze, with morale high among our champions to set a new record in the history of the Asian Athletics Games.
Winning the double: Al Garni excels
Our champion Mohammed Al Garni excelled in the 1500m final, winning the golden double, covering the race distance in a time of 3:40.23, leaving the runner-up spot to Bahrain’s Rashid Ramzi, former world champion, with a time of 3:40.95, while Iraq’s Adnan Taes took third with a time of 3:42.50, and Qatar’s Hamza Driouch finished ninth, recording a time of 3:52.16. Al Garni ran the race with intelligence and great tactical skill, staying close to the race leader in the opening stage, Bahrain’s Benson Kiplagat Seurei, who surged forward from the last 350m, and it caught fire and became a three-way contest over the last 200m as Bahrain’s Ramzi sought the lead, but his strength was not enough to withstand Al Garni, who pounced to the front, sprinting like a rocket to the finish line and leaving the rear to Bahrain’s Ramzi and Iraq’s Taes. Eight Arab runners had taken the top four places in each of the two qualifying heats and took part in the final.
