Naser sets Asian Games 400m record as Bahrain adds athletics golds

Salwa Eid Naser won the women's 400m at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Saturday, setting a Games record of 49.20 seconds on a wet track. The Guardian reported that the Bahraini athlete finished ahead of Iran's Zahra Zarei Manoujan, who ran 53.38, and India's Prachi Choudary.

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Bahrain also collected gold through Nelly Korir, whose winning time of 4:04.50 in the women's 1,500m was another Games record. In the women's marathon, Shitaye Habte finished first in 2:27:31, ahead of China's Ciren Cuomu and Japan's Mikuni Yada. Habte's victory came 16 years after her Asian Games 10,000m silver in Guangzhou.

The men's 400m produced a much closer finish. Thailand's Joshua Atkinson took gold in 44.90, beating the United Arab Emirates' Sulaiman Abdulrahman by 0.09 seconds, with Japan's Joseph Nakajima third. Atkinson secured the title with a late dip at the line, according to The Guardian's account of Saturday's competition.

Naser's individual victory followed her contribution to Bahrain's record-setting mixed 4x400m relay performance earlier in the meeting. World Athletics reported that Isah Musa, Aisha Abdullah, Alaa Sami and Naser ran 3:12.87, with Naser completing the final leg in 48.9 seconds. India took second place in 3:14.46 and Vietnam finished third in 3:14.54, putting all three teams on the podium.

Bahrain had also won both 10,000m titles during the opening days of athletics. According to World Athletics, Olympic steeplechase champion Winfred Yavi moved ahead with three laps left in the women's race and won in 32:39.18. Japan's Nozomi Tanaka followed two seconds later, while India's Seema Kumari took bronze to complete the medal positions behind Yavi.

In the men's 10,000m, Birhanu Balew retained his Asian Games title after making his decisive move on the last lap. World Athletics recorded his winning time as 28:27.51, ahead of India's Gulveer Singh in 28:29.38 and fellow Bahraini Albert Kiptoo in 28:34.38. Those earlier distance victories preceded Saturday's further gold medals for Bahrain on the track and in the marathon.