MUSCAT: Oman's athletes returned home from the Arabian Athletics Championship in Marrakesh, Morocco, with five medals including three gold, one silver and one bronze. Oman finished fifth place in the overall medal tally.
The national athletes delivered an impressive show in the concluding day of the Arabian meet on Saturday as they raised the tally of the medals from two to five.
Oman sprinter Mohammed al Saadi managed to clinch the silver medal in the men’s 200 meter race as he clocked 20.62 seconds. Gold medal went to Qatar’s Femi Ogunode after he clocked the race in 20.52 seconds while the bronze went to Saudi’s sprinter Fahad al Subai with 20.71 seconds.
Oman's top long jumper Salim bin Saleh al Yarubi brought home another gold medal after he bagged gold with a distance of 7.75 metre. Silver went to Morocco’s Latif Zayid with a jump of 7.69 meter while his teammate Bu haila AbdulWahed got bronze as he registered 7.47 metre.
Oman’s 4X400 meter relay team comprising Mohammed al Mabsali, Othman al Busaidi, Hamza al Jabi and Ahmed al Saadi emerged with the bronze medal after finishing the race within a timing of 3.14.25 minutes while the hosts Morocco clinched the gold medal as they ended the race within a 3.06.56 minutes. Iraq ended the race within a timing of 3.07.42 minutes.
Fatik Abdulghafoor claimed the first gold medal for Oman in high jump competition as he registered a jump of 2.15 meters. Salim bin Saleh al Yarubi got the second gold medal for Oman in triple jump.
Oman’s long distance runner Mohsin al Farsi finished the men’s 800 meter race in the fifth position as he registered a timing of 1:49:20 minutes while his teammate Mohammed bin Hamdan al Sulemani came in ninth place after he clocked 1:51:25 minutes.
The hosts Morocco topped the medals tally with 56 medals including 17 gold, 25 silver and 14 bronze. Egypt came in second place with a 10 gold, five silver and bronze. Qatar claimed third spot with five gold and three silver followed by Tunisia with four gold, two silver and three bronze.
The 23rd edition of the Arabian Athletics Championship featured participation of 250 athletes from 16 countries.
After the Moroccan assignment, Oman’s athletes will gear up for the Arabian Sports Games which will be held in Algeria during July 5 to 15. Then, the national athletics team will take part in the Asian Athletics Championship for senior category in Pattaya, Thailand from July 12 to 16.
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