Special welcome for athletics team

Manama, June 9 (BNA): Bahrain’s national athletics team returned home to a warm welcome following their impressive results at the recently-concluded 21st Asian Championship in Wuhan, China. The nationals took eight medals, including three gold, three silver and two bronze, amidst solid competition from over 1,000 athletes coming from 45 Asian Countries. Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) general secretary Abdulrahman Askar congratulated the team members as he received them at the Bahrain International Airport, in the presence of BOC sports federations director Hisham Al Balooshi, Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA) board member Rashid Al Buainain and association director Yousef Abdulqader. Askar commended the team results and overall performance, especially Kemi Adekoya who posted the world leading time in the 400m hurdles final race, where Bahrain's double gold medalist in the last Asian Games at Incheon ran a marvelous race to clock a world leading 54.31 seconds. He conveyed the greetings of His Majesty the King Representative for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman and BOC president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa to BAA board members Bader Nasser and Ruqaya Al Ghasra as well as to remaining Bahrain delegation members on this achievement. The biggest ever Asian championship saw Asia’s best athletes competing for top honours, which included direct entry for winners to the IAAF World Championship in Beijing.