Historic achievement for the junior team at the continental championships, winning six golds, two silvers and a bronze
Gold in the 5000m and bronze in the 4x400m relay on the final day of competition
In a historic achievement for Qatari sport in general and athletics in particular, our junior athletics team claimed the title of Asian champions, finishing first at the 16th Asian Junior Athletics Championships, which concluded in Taiwan yesterday with 33 countries from across the continent taking part.
The historic result came after our team finished its participation in the continental championships topping the junior category with nine medals – six gold, two silver and one bronze – an achievement occurring for the first time, as no Qatari team taking part in Asian championships before, at youth, junior or senior level, had ever won this number of gold medals, confirming that the achievement is historic in being the first of its kind.
Our team topped the junior category standings with nine medals; Japan came second with five gold, three silver and three bronze medals; China finished third with four gold, four silver and one bronze; Chinese Taipei was fourth with three gold, two silver and three bronze; and Iran was fifth with two gold, two silver and five bronze.
At the close of the championships on the final day, our team added two more medals – gold and bronze. Promising young champion Musaab Adam deservedly won gold in the 5000m, covering the distance in 14:34.07. This was Musaab Adam’s second medal of the championships, after his first in the 3000m steeplechase on the third day of competition.
Our team also won bronze in the 4x400m relay through our quartet of Mohammed Nasser Abbas, Abubaker Haydar, Khalid Al Shamrani and Mohammed Al Nour Adam, who covered the distance in 3:09.15.
Young champion Khalid Al Shamrani broke his own championship mark in the 400m hurdles, covering the distance in 51.59 seconds to beat his previous best of 52.52.
Ashraf Amjad Al Saifi and his brother Ahmed Amjad Al Saifi had won the hammer gold and silver on the first day, Idris Musa and Abubaker Haydar won the 1500m gold and silver and Mohammed Nasser Abbas won the 400m gold on the second day, Musaab Adam won the 3000m steeplechase gold and Mohammed Al Nour Adam the 800m gold on the third day, and Musaab Adam won the 5000m gold with a bronze in the 4x400m relay on the fourth day, bringing the overall total of medals won by our team to nine – six gold, two silver and one bronze.
