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After Femi Ogunode powered to victory in the 100m at the Incheon Asian Games a few days ago, he had vowed he would also bag the 200m gold, besides issuing a warning that he would be a threat to the best in the business at next year’s World Championships, and the Olympics in 2016. |
Usain Bolt can now wait after the Qatari yesterday delivered on the first bit, in the process setting a new Asian Games record of 20.14 seconds with a crunching run that left his rivals scrapping for the silver and bronze.
His effort gave Qatar their ninth gold medal of the Games, matching their best-ever tally so far – at the Doha event in 2006 when they finished ninth.
Ogunode had clocked 20.86 seconds in the semi-finals in the morning with all the other qualifiers to the final going over 21 seconds, thus giving an indication of things to come in the evening.
But even his rivals yesterday would have been stunned at the acceleration he achieved during the final stretch, with the second-placed Fahad al-Subaie of Saudi Arabia trailing in almost 10 metres behind in 20.74, his personal best. South Korea’s Yeo Hosua claimed the bronze with 20.82.
“I was confident about winning the sprint double at the Asian Games. Especially after my victory in the 100m I was even more convinced about my abilities,” Ogunode said after breaking the Asian Games record of 20.25 held by Japan’s Koji Ito since the 1998 event in Bangkok.
It was a double whammy for the Japanese sprint great who had also lost his 100m Games record of 10 seconds to the Qatari in Incheon.
It was also the second time Ogunode had won a double at the Asian Games, his previous effort coming in 2010 at Guangzhou where he had won the 200 and 400m gold as a 19-year-old.
“I am happy that I managed to win two gold medals for Qatar for the second time in my career,” Ogunode added. “I am young and hopefully I would be able to do even better at future events.”
Ogunode was earlier tipped to defend his 400m title too, but opted out because he had been clocking encouraging times in the 100m, and the fact that it would have been too taxing to attempt winning three races.
Controversial 800m
Earlier in the day, the 800m race witnessed an unprecedented controversy when all the top three finishers were dramatically disqualified, which gave Qatar’s Jamal Hairane an unexpected bronze.
Saudi Abdulaziz Mohamed, Musaab Abdulrahman Bala of Qatar and Abraham Kipchirchir Rotich of Bahrain, who finished first, second and third, all had their results cancelled.
The drama comes just days after Bahrain’s Ruth Jebet was stripped of her steeplechase win as she was about to step onto the victory podium, only to be reinstated the next day.
The Incheon Asiad’s official website said Mohamed was disqualified for obstruction, while Bala and Rotich were penalised for breaking lane regulations.
Just after the bell for the last lap, Mohamed faltered and appeared to grab Rotich’s shirt, almost pulling off his bib number.
The ruling helped Iraq’s Adnan Taess Akkar win the gold, with Teng Haining of China taking silver and Haraine bronze.
But a Saudi official told AFP the team were appealing against the disqualification, saying Mohamed had stumbled innocently and had not impeded the Bahraini. Officials from Qatar and Bahrain said their delegations had also protested.
Speaking to AFP before the disqualification was announced, Mohammed played down the incident.
“There was some touching between me and the Bahraini -- I wanted to move out but the touching stopped me. There was no grabbing (of the shirt),” he said through a translator.
But a Bahrain official insisted Rotich had been impeded and had only left his lane because his shirt was pulled.
“Between the Saudi Arabian and the Indian there was jostling, when the Saudi Arabian went to fall he took our athlete by the shirt,” a Bahrain official told AFP.
“He is a victim, he did nothing wrong. It’s not Bahrain’s fault.”
In an 800m race packed with incident at Incheon’s Asiad Main Stadium, Bahrain’s Yusuf Saad Kamal fell on the first lap and was later seen limping heavily as he returned to the dressing room.
Mohamed took first with a dramatic late surge, pipping Bala on the line by just 0.05 seconds, prompting the Qatari to slump to the ground in dejection. (with inputs from AFP)
