Hangzhou, China, September 30, 2023: China’s Xie Zhenye won the tag of fastest man in Asia going sub-10 seconds on a night of high drama in athletics at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where pre-race favourite Femi Ogunode of Qatar failed to qualify for the blue riband men’s 100 metres event.
Cheered on by thousands of fans at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Xie won the men’s 100 metres final on a night of surprises with Ogunode’s mishap and a turn-back-the-clock victory in the men’s 400 metres by 35-year-old Saudi Yousef Ahmed Masrahi.
Chasing his fifth Asian Games gold medal, Ogunode failed to reach the men’s 100m final when he shockingly finished fifth in his semi-final heats. He put it down to a malfunction of the starting block.
His absence made Xie the clear favourite to win the final and the 29-year-old Chinese obliged, clocking 9.97 seconds. Puripol Boonson of Thailand won the silver in 10.02 and Malaysia’s Muhammad Azeem Fahmi the bronze medal in 10.11.
“I’m so happy to win. It is more special as I won in front of my home crowd,” said an elated Xie.
It was a sprint double for China with Ge Manqi winning the women’s 100m in 11.23. Singapore’s Shanti Pereira won the silver medal in 11.27 while Bahrain’s Saad Saeed Al-Khaldi took the bronze in 11.35.
All the drama had taken place earlier in the evening in the heats. Ogunode got off to a slow start and seemed to stumble in the opening 10 metres allowing the rest of the field to storm ahead. By the time he recovered, the race was over with Xie producing his season’s best 10.03 to win the heat.
Ogunode, 32, who had entered the race as top dog having won four Asian Games gold medals - the 100m and 200m in 2014 and the 200m and 400m in 2010 - could only manage 10.40 and was knocked out of contention with only the two winners of each of the three heats, plus the next two fastest, qualifying for the finals.
Meanwhile, in the men’s 400m final, Yousef Ahmed Masrahi of Saudi Arabia turned back the clock winning gold in a photo-finish. The 35-year-old Masrahi, who won gold in the same event at the 2014 Incheon Games, finished in 45.55 to edge out Asian champion Kentaro Sato of Japan by two-hundredths of a second. Bahrain’s Yusuf Abbas Ali took the bronze in 45.65, a personal best.
It was a one-two finish for Bahrain in the women’s 400m with Oluwakemi Adekoya taking the gold medal in 50.66 and compatriot Salwa Naser the silver in 50.92. Malaysia’s Shereen Samson won the bronze in 52.58.
Bahrain also won gold in the men’s 10,000m with Birhanu Balew finishing strongly to finish first in 23 minutes 13.62 seconds. Balew took the lead in the last lap and pulled away with a superb kick 200m from the end to ward off a strong challenge from Indians Kumar Kartik, silver medallist in 28:15.38, and Gulveer Singh, who took the bronze in 28:17.21.
