Qatar's Jamal Hairane (left) poses for a photograph with podium winners Ajay Kumar Saroj of India and Moslem Niadoost of Iran after the men's 1500m medal ceremony at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.
Qatar added three more medals to their tally to finish in the 15th position among 45 Asian nations as the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship came to a conclusion at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India yesterday.
Qatari athletes secured a total of seven medals during the four-day Championship, with two silver medals and a bronze on the final day.
Jamal Hairane won his second silver medal of the meet when he clocked 1:49.94 in the men’s 800m final. The winner, Kuwait’s Remaid Al Zofairi clocked 1:49.47. Hairane’s fellow team-mate Mohamed Nasir missed the podium spot after finishing fourth behind Indian athlete Davinder Singh who won the bronze medal.
Yesterday's medal was Hairane's second in India, having already bagged the silver medal in the men's l500m final on Saturday.
Asia’s fastest man, Femi Seun Ogunode did not have a golden day, but managed to book a podium finish when he came third in the men’s 200m final, clocking 20.79 seconds yesterday.
Previously, on Saturday, Ogunode earned silver for Qatar when he clocked 10.26 seconds in the rain-hit men's 100m final.
Qatar’s third medal of the day came in the men’s javelin throw final in which B A Ahmed cleared 83.70m to win the silver. Indian thrower Neeraj Chopra was on the top of the standings and cleared 85.23m to win the gold medal.
India topped the table with 29 medals, a total which was made of 12 gold medals, five silver and 12 bronze.
Second placed China won eight gold medals, seven silver and five bronze medals which made a total of 20. Kazakhstan, having won a total of eight medals, were placed third in the medal tally.
The next Asian Athletics Championships will be held in Doha, in 2019.
