Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman have won their second medal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, with Hussain al Farsi finishing third in the men’s 800 metres final on Tuesday.
Earlier, Oman had ended their 13-year medal drought in Asian Games with a historic first-ever silver medal last week.
Oman Sail’s 49er team of Musab al Hadi and Walid al Kindi achieved the feat for Oman in sailing competition.
Hussain al Farsi came home in 1 minute 48.51 seconds for his bronze behind gold medallist Saudi Arabia’s Essa Ali S Kzwani (1:48.05) and silver medallist India’s Mohammed Afsal Pulikkalakath (1:48:43).
Al Farsi qualified for the 800 metres finals after clocking a personal best record of 1:47.68 in the heats topped by India’s Mohammed Afsal.
This was also the first time Oman have won a second medal in an Asian Games.
Oman’s first medal came in 1986 at the Seoul Asian Games when sprinting great Mohammed al Malki claimed a bronze medal in the 400-metre race. Al Malki bettered his performance and took the gold medal in the 1990 Beijing Asian Games.
In 1998, Oman won another bronze when the men’s 4x100 m relay team finished third in the Bangkok Asian Games.
New sprint icon Barakat al Harthy joined the elite list when he bagged a bronze in 100 metres.
Last week, silver medallists Musab and Waleed sailed excellently throughout and kept their composure in the final intense races to take silver.
This achievement means the team has secured automatic qualification to the Asian Qualification Regatta in Chon Buri, Thailand, in December where they will look to confirm their place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Asian Games are considered the largest sporting event on the Asian continent and the second largest global event after the Summer Olympics. More than 12,000 male and female athletes are currently competing, representing 45 Asian countries in 40 sports.
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