By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: The 3rd Gulf Games concluded its athletics discipline Thursday with a flurry of activities and heated competition in both men's and women's contests. The women's high jump contest saw Nadia Al-Haqan from Kuwait winning the gold medal with a 1.53 meters, followed by her compatriot Dalal Faraj with 1.50 meters and Saudi Arabia's Raghad Abu Arish with 1.45 meters.

The women's 200 meters race had Kuwait's Mudhawi Al-Shammari winning gold with a time of 23.74 secs, followed by Bahrain's Zenab Mahamat with 23.88 secs and her compatriot Iman Essa 24.35 secs. The women's hammer throw saw Hana Al-Touqi from Oman bagging the gold medal with a 49.36 meters followed by Rania Al-Naji from Qatar with 47.00 m and Wedad Robari from UAE with a 40.63 m.

In the women's 1,500 meters race, Winfred Yavi from Bahrain was first with a time of 4:07.24 minutes followed by her teammate Tigest Mekonen with 4:20.44 minutes while Amal Al-Roumi from Kuwait was third with 4:20.11 minutes. The women's 5,000 meters race had Bontu Rebitu from Bahrain winning gold with a time of 15:51.04 minutes, while her teammate Tigist Belay was in second place with 15:53.76 minutes and Saudi Miznah Al-Nassar was in third with 20:33.43 minutes. The women's 4x400 relay saw Bahrain winning gold in 3:48.00 minutes, beating UAE with 4:20.55 minutes and Kuwait with 4:25.16 minutes, respectively.

Swimmers take part in the men's 800m freestyle competition during the at Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed aquarium complex.

Men's athletics

The men's 4X400 relay had Bahrain in first place with a time of 3:06.20 minutes, Saudi Arabia was second with 3:06.37 minutes and Qatar was third with 3:07.27 minutes. In the men's 5,000 meters race, Albert Rop from Bahrain won gold with 13:44.70 minutes, while his teammate Dawit Admasu won silver with 13:48.06 minutes and Yousuf Al-Ansari from Saudi Arabia was third with 14:14.97 minutes.

In the men's Decathlon - 1,500 meters, Majid Al-Zaid from Kuwait was first with 4:35.65 minutes, followed by Saudi Arabia's Saeed Mubarak with 4:36.25 minutes and his teammate Ahmad Al-Yaseen with 4:36.25 minutes. The men's 1,500 meters race Abdirahman Hassan from Qatar won first place with 4:02.93 minutes, followed by Musab Ali, also from Qatar, with 4:04.32 minutes and Kuwait's Khalid Al-Harbi was third with 4:06.36 minutes.

The men's hammer throw saw Ahmad Al-Sify winning gold with 69.40 meters followed by Ali Zankawi from Kuwait with 66.97 meters and Mahmoud Elgohary from Bahrain with 64.68 meters. The men's 200 meters race had Yaqoob Yaqoob from Bahrain winning gold in 20.91 seconds. Fahhhad Al-Subaie from Saudi Arabia won silver with 20.91 seconds and his teammate Mahmoud Ibrahim won the bronze medal with 21.13 seconds. The men's High jump had Mutaz Barsham from Qatar and his compatriot Ali Hamdi winning gold with a 2.15 meters, and Ahmad Al-Tarouti from Saudi Arabia winning bronze with 2.10 meters.

Kuwait's Nadia Al-Haqan (right) and Dalal Faraj celebrate their gold and silver medals, respectively, in the high jump contest.

Shooting

The Kuwaiti shooting team won four medals -- two gold, one silver, and one bronze -- during Thursday's competitions. The event at the Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex saw Talal Al-Rashidi, Nasser Al-Meqled and Abdulrahman Al-Faihan securing the gold medal in the men's teams' trap shooting. The UAE and Saudi Arabia came in second and third respectively. In the men's singles' trap shooting, Kuwait's Meqled struck gold while silver and bronze went to his compatriots Rashidi and Faihan.

As for the 10m singles rifle shooting event, Oman's Salem Al-Nab'ee won gold, while UAE's Ibrahim Khalil won silver and Oman's Essam Al-Bloushi won bronze. Oman won another gold medal in the 25m rapid-fire pistol competition via shooter Mu'ath Al-Bloushi. The silver and bronze medals went to Bahrainis Abdulmajed Abdulkhaleq and Abdullah Rahma respectively.

Kuwait's Nasser Al-Meqled (center), Talal Al-Rashidi (left) and Abdulrahman Al-Faihan celebrate with their gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the men's singles' trap shooting event.

Swimming

In the Swimming discipline, Kuwait swimmers continued their dominance on the medals table during the second day of competition as they collected three gold medals and one silver out of four competitions. Abbas Qali won the gold medal in the 100 meters butterfly event in 54.16 seconds, followed by his teammate Waleed Abdelaziz who won silver in 54.22 seconds and Mohamed Mohamed from Qatar won bronze in 55.66 seconds.

In the men's 800m freestyle, Sauod Al-Shamroukh from Kuwait won gold in 8:38.55 minutes followed by Issa Adawi from Oman with 8:45.49 minutes and Kareem Salah from Qatar in 9:00.46 minutes. In the men's 100m backstroke, Ali Al-Essa from Saudi Arabia won gold in 59.79 seconds, followed by Omar Al-Rowaila from Bahrain in 59.94 seconds and Yousef Aboelela in 1:00.22 minutes. In the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, Kuwait was first in 3:31.02 minutes, Qatar second in 3:35.07 minutes and Oman was third in 3:36.15 minutes.

Gold medalist Abbas Qali of Kuwait (center), silver medalist Waleed Abdelaziz of Kuwait (left) and bronze medalist Mohamed Mohamed of Qatar pose on the podium after the conclusion of the 100 meters butterfly race.

President of the International Swimming Federation (FINA) Hussein Al-Musallam of Kuwait said the GCC Games should be held regularly due to its positive impact on athletes and the development of their technical levels. "We are happy to host the third games in the country," he said, adding that there was a quality shift as far as information technology, results and organization goes, in addition to linking all information in a joint system through the games' website.

He said among the positives of the games is the women's participation for the first time, as Kuwait insisted on organizing the event which is the first gathering for GCC athletes following the Tokyo 2020 Olympics "which is an achievement on its own." Musallam commended the major role and support of the government to ensure the games' success, and he lauded the cooperation between various government agencies lead by Public Authority for Sport.