Belayneh unable to add to UAE medal tally

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  • Missed chance: Belayneh (l) was tipped to win the race having claimed Asian Championships gold in India last year

    Betlhem Belayneh was unable to add to the UAE’s medal tally at the Asian Games yesterday as she fin­ished fourth in the women’s 1,500m race.

    The Ethiopian-born Emirati, nicknamed Betty, was one of the favourites in the 16-runner field, having won gold in the event at the Asian Athletics Championships last year in a time of 4:13.67.

    But the 22-year-old was over three minutes slower yesterday, clocking a surprising 4:16.88, which was also well over the personal best time of 4:05.13 she had run in Doha in 2013.

    UAE Athletics Federation presi­dent, Ahmed Al Kamali, couldn’t hide his disappointment and shock over Belayneh’s result.

    “I didn’t expect her to lose this race,” admitted Al Kamali. “There really is no excuse for this. But we can still bet on Betlhem and Alia Saeed (gold medallist in the 10,000m on Saturday) to do get medals in the 5,000m.

    “I think Betlhem was under a lot of pressure especially after Alia won gold. She wanted the gold so badly, it affected her performance. I hope she can recover from this mentally in time for the 5,000m race on Thursday.”

    Bahrain claimed a one-two in the event as Olympic bronze medallist Maryam Yusuf Jamal added ano-ther gold medal to her collection crossing the finish line in 4:09.90.

    The 30-year-old two-time world champion, with three Asian Games golds in the 1,500m and one in the 800m, says she had to dig deep to beat teammate Mimi Belete.

    Jamal’s win saw discontent grow over African-born athletes at the Asian Games.

    The Ethiopian-born Jamal tore down the home straight to win the women’s 1,500m, ahead of Moroc­can-origin Mohamad Al-Garni and Rashid Ramzi finished one-two in the men’s race.

    A day after Nigeria-born Femi Ogunode beat Chinese and Japa­nese runners to claim a new Asian 100m record, athletes and a senior official spoke out about imported talent.

    “I think it’s unfair because they are taller and have a longer stride,” men’s 100m silver medallist Su Bingtian said. “They are more pow­erful and athletic. Physically we are at a disadvantage.”

    Japan’s Kei Takase, third in the 100m, said Asians could be “left be­hind” as the bar set by African run­ners at Asia’s Olympics gets “higher and higher”.

    And Olympic Council of Asia hon­orary vice president Wei Jizhongo said countries should “work tog-ether to decrease” the number of imported medal-winners.

    “If they buy some athletes they stop the training of their athletes. This is not beneficial for their coun­try’s sports,” Wei told reporters.

    The Emiratis resume their medal hunt today as the showjumpers take on the individual event while skeet shooters Saif Al Mansoori, Mohammad Ahmad and Saeed Al Dhraif continue their qualification campaign. 

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