Qatar’s national athletics team players managed, on the first day of the West Asian Men’s and Women’s Athletics Championship currently being held in Aleppo, Syria, to claim two medals, one gold and one silver, with the gold going to runner Femi Ogunode in the 100m with a time of 10.25 seconds, while Oman’s Abdullah Al Sauli took the silver medal with a time of 10.30 seconds, and the UAE’s Ahmed Al Zaabi took the bronze medal with a time of 10.58 seconds. Qatar’s second silver medal came from runner Felix Kibori in the 10000m with a time of 28:37.97 minutes, while first place and the gold medal in this event went to Bahrain’s Mahboob Hasan with a time of 28:36.14 minutes, and the bronze medal went to our compatriot Shawgy Jamal with a time of 28:45.01 minutes.
The first West Asian Athletics Championship opened yesterday evening at Aleppo International Stadium, under the patronage of Shahinaz Fakoush and in the presence of the Secretary-General of the West Asian Athletics Federation and President of the Syrian Athletics Federation, Brigadier General Mohsen Al Abbasi – chairman of the championship’s organising committee – and the heads of the 11 delegations taking part in the championship. The opening ceremony included a speech by the organising committee chairman, in which he expressed happiness at hosting fellow Arab nations in the city of Aleppo, after which the president of the Syrian Athletics Federation welcomed the participating delegations, affirming that this presence, with more than 300 male and female athletes, reflects the federations’ keenness to present their best. The flags of the West Asian Athletics Federation and the championship were then raised, and the Secretary-General of the West Asian Athletics Federation presented the federation’s shield to the ceremony’s patron, Shahinaz Fakoush, after which she officially declared the championship open.
