Bahrain’s Oluwakemi Adekoya created a new Games record as she blitzed her way to victory in the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 54.45sec yesterday in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, rewriting her own mark of 55.09sec, set in the 2014 edition.
China’s Mo Jiadie claimed the silver medal, clocking 55.01sec while Vithya Ramraj, of India, won bronze after being timed at 55.68sec.
Another Bahraini athlete, Aminat Yusuf Jamal, narrowly missed out on a podium finish after finishing fourth with a time of 56.84sec.
This was Adekoya’s third gold medal at the Games, after the Nigerian-Bahraini athlete, 30, won the women’s 400m and the 4x400 mixed relay over the past four days.
“My focus was 53 seconds but I could only do 54 seconds because I had run too many races in the past few days,” Adekoya said.
“I still have to race tomorrow, it’s okay.”
Adekoya, who also holds the Asian record for the women’s 400m after setting the mark with a time of 53.09sec in Budapest six weeks ago, will be part of the women’s 4x400m relay team in the event’s final today.
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Marta Hirpato Yota – who claimed a bronze in the women’s 1,500m race on Sunday behind compatriot Winfred Yavi, who won gold – will compete in the women’s 800m final today after coming second in her heat yesterday with a time of 2m, 6.85sec, behind India’s Harmilan Bains, who was clocked at 2m, 6.62sec.
But there was disappointment for Bahrain long-distance runners Tigest Getent Mekonen and Bontu Edao Rebitu who finished sixth and seventh in the women’s 5,000m final which was won by India’s Parul Chaudhary with a time of 15m, 14.75sec. And Oumar Moussa Mahamat also had a less-than-satisfying outing in the final of the men’s triple jump, finishing ninth with a personal best distance of 15.65m, far behind the winner, China’s Yaming Zhu, who covered 17.13m.
And there was heartbreak for Bahrain’s Fatima Mubarak, Edidiong Odiong, Zenab Mahamat and Hajar Alkhaldi after they were disqualified in the final of the women’s 4x100m final for passing the baton outside the takeover zone.
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