Beirut: The UAE national athletics team increased its medal count to seven at the 3rd West Asia U20 Athletics Championship in Beirut, after adding two golds and a silver on Friday evening. The competition, featuring around 250 athletes from 10 countries, concludes tomorrow.
According to Emirates News Agency, sprinter Mariam Karim continued her outstanding form, clinching her second gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 14.04 seconds, beating Syria’s Rayan Hassan and Jordan’s Nancy Abosarhan. Karim had already won the gold in the 400m hurdles at the opening of the championship.
The UAE team also secured gold in the mixed 4x400m relay final, with Mariam Karim, Omnyat Qamardeen, Saeed Shuaib, and Abdulquddous Ahmed Ali setting new championship and national records with a time of 3:26.62 minutes. Meanwhile, Al Yaziya Tariq won silver in the javelin throw with a distance of 32.09 metres, setting a new national record in both the U20 and women’s categories, after claiming gold in the pole vault earlier in the tournament.
Athletes Sulaiman Abdulrahman and Abdulquddous Ahmed advanced to the men’s 400m final after topping the preliminary heats. Khawla Sajwani, Board Member of the UAE Athletics Federation, praised the results, highlighting the team’s rise to second place on the overall medal table with seven medals, underlining the value of the young talents in the squad and the federation’s future plans to enhance international competitiveness.
The UAE team had previously secured four medals on the opening day of the championship, comprising two golds, one silver, and one bronze.
