China pockets four golds from Athletics at Asian Games

China pocketed four gold medals from athletics while Oluwakemi Mujidat Adekoya of Bahrain broke the Games record to win women's 400m hurdles at the Asian Games here on Oct. 3rd.

China was crowned in both men's and women's 4x100m relays, Zhu Yaming claimed men's triple jump title and Sun Qihao added another one for the host nation in men's decathlon.

Adekoya took home the women's 400m hurdles gold medal in 54.45 seconds, followed by China's Mo Jiadie who finished a season best of 55.01 seconds. Vithya Ramraj of India took bronze in 55.68 seconds.

In men's 4x100m relay, Chinese sprinters, consisted of Chen Guanfeng, Xie Zhenye, Yan Haibin, Chen Jiapeng, finished a season best of 38.29 seconds. Japan was second with 0.15 seconds behind and South Korea took the bronze in 38.74 seconds.

"Winning a medal in my own country makes it a very special moment, and it's one of the most important moments in my entire career," Chen said.

The host also won the women's relay as Liang Xiaojing, Wei Yongli, Yuan Qiqi and Ge Manqi combined for 43.39 seconds. Thailand took silver with 44.32 seconds, and Malaysia bronze with 45.01 seconds.

"I'm really, really happy. Both the men's and women's relay teams won gold. I feel that we've left no regrets on this track," Ge said.

Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Zhu Yaming secured the men's triple jump title with 17.13 meters. His teammate Fang Yaoqing finished second with 16.93m and the bronze medal went to Indian's Praveen Chitharavel with 16.68m.

"When thinking about Paris, I don't feel as much burden as I did when I was preparing for Tokyo. I just want to be able to enjoy the moments that competitive sports have created," Zhu said.

Sun Qihao scored an overall 7,816 points to win the men's decathlon, ending China's 21-year drought for the gold medal in Asian Games. Tejaswin Shankar of India finished second with a personal best of 7,666 points. Japan's Yuma Maruyama bagged bronze with 7,568 points.

"This gold medal is a reward for all the hard work I've put in these two years. I have set my targets on earning above 8,000 points and qualifying for the Olympics," Sun said.

Abderrahman Alsaleck of Qatar dominated men's 400m hurdles with 48.04 seconds. Another Qatari, Bassem Hemeida, took silver with a personal best of 48.52 seconds. China's Xie Zhiyu pocketed bronze in 49.16 seconds.

In an intensive men's 800m race, Saudi Arabia's Essa Kzwani won the gold with 1:48.05, Indian's Mohammed Pulikkalakath finished second with 1:48.43 and Husain Al Farsi of Oman took bronze with 1:48.51.

The women's 5,000m saw a dramatic race. Japan's Ririka Hironaka led all the way until the last gasp, only to see Parul Chaudhary of India catch up in the final 50 meters to win the gold with 15:14.75. Hironaka had to settle with a silver in 15:15.34, while Kazakhstan's Caroline Kipkirui was third with 15:23.12.

In women's high jump, Uzbekistan duo Safina Sadullaeva and Svetlana Radzivil pocketed the gold and silver medals, Kazakhstan's Nadezhda Dubovitskaya took bronze. The three medalists all succeeded in 1.86 meters, but Sadullaeva managed to take it in her first attempt.

India's Rani Annu secured the women's javelin throw gold with a season best of 62.92 meters, the silver medal went to Hatarabage Lekamge of Sri Lanka with a personal best of 61.57, and China's Lyu Huihui bagged bronze with 61.29.