Dubai: Iran dominated with 16 gold medals, but it was hosts UAE who surprised everyone with a rich haul of seven golds and second place overall at the end of the West Asian Athletics Championships that concluded at the Dubai Police Officers Club on Saturday.Though fielding a relatively inexperienced squad, Iran proved their strength with 16 gold, 16 silver and 10 bronze medals for a total of 40 medals at the end of the four-day meet, which held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and organised by the UAE Athletics Association (UAEAA).
The UAE finished with 20 medals, of which seven were gold, four silver and nine bronze. Kuwait were third with five gold, three silver and four bronze medals among the 11 nations who took part.
Ebrahim Abdul Malik, General Secretary, General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW), was the chief guest along with Shaikh Ahmad Hasher Al Maktoum, the UAEs only Olympic gold medallist, following his success at the 2004 Games in Athens.
This is the first time ever that any UAE team has bagged so many medals in one single competition, Adv. Ahmad Al Kamali, IAAF Council Member and President, UAEAA, toldGulf News. And the good thing is that most of our medal winners are juniors and that gives us immense satisfaction as we can see our future secured.
The UAE had won a total of four medals, including two golds, at the inaugural West Asian Athletics Championships held in Aleppo, Syria, in 2009.
This merely proves that a lot of hard work has been put by all concerned, Al Kamali added. We are on the right track and we will see most of these medal winners moving up within the next couple of years.
Leading the UAE medal onslaught was the mens team with a total of 12 medals including three gold, four silver and five bronze. The women also did well, with four gold and four bronze medals.
Saud Mohammad, winner of the gold in the 800m in Aleppo, anchored the UAE squad to the 4x400 metres mens gold medal ahead of Oman and Iraq in the final race of the evening.
Weve put in a lot of work to get here and we are glad that all this has come together with a gold medal, the Sharjah athlete said.
The UAEAA president admitted his surprise at the medal haul for the hosts. Honestly, I was expecting around 15 medals in all considering the work our athletes had put in, Al Kamali said. But they have surprised us all with this performance and we can look at the future very optimistically.
By Gulf News
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