THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2021 12 Going for gold at Tokyo Olympics! Bahain athletics team named to compete in track, field and road events at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games starting next month

Bahrain team features 17• of the Kingdom’s best elite athletes, including six women and 11 men

Multi-titled sprinter Salwa• Eid Naser is leading medal hopeful; set to compete in Women’s 400m and Mixed 4x400m Relay Abbas Abubaker Birhanu Balew Alemu Bekele Eunice Chebichii Chumba

Four athletes part• of Bahrain team who won gold at Arab championships earlier this month Salwa Eid Naser...One of Bahrain’s best bets for an Olympic gold medal TDT | Manama team. She will be competing in two events, including the Wom- en’s 400 metres and then along- BETTER ulti-titled elite sprint- side her fellow-Bahrainis in the er Salwa Eid Naser Mixed 4x400m Relay. Tejitu Daba Shumi Dechasa Elhassan Elabbassi Dawit Fikadu Mwill be spearheading Aminat Jamal is also compet- KNOW a 17-member Bahrain athletics ing in the sprints. She is entered team that will be going for gold in the Women’s 400m Hurdles at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic as well as the Mixed 4x400m Games. Relay with Salwa. The Tokyo Olympics The squad was confirmed yes- Winfred Yavi will be contest- are scheduled to take terday by the Bahrain Athletics ing the Women’s 3,000m Stee- place between July 23 Association (BAA), and it will plechase as she looks to contin- and August 8, with the feature the Kingdom’s best track ue her fine form this season, as and field athletes, including six will Kalkidan Gezahegne, who athletics events sched- women and 11 men. will be in the Women’s uled from July 30 to Salwa is the top name on the 10,000m. closing day. A total of 48 events will be held Bahrain Athletics Team for Tokyo Olympics on the track, in the Kalkidan Gezahegne Musa Isah Aminat Jamal John Koech field and on the road (*line-up subject to change) Women: Eunice Chebichii Chumba and Tejitu Daba are taking part in Salwa Eid Naser (Women’s 400m, Mixed 4x400m Relay) the Women’s for Bah- Aminat Jamal (Women’s 400m Hurdles, Mixed 4x400m Relay) rain. Tejitu recently won gold in the Half-Marathon at the Arab Winfred Yavi (Women’s 3,000m ) Athletics Championships earlier Kalkidan Gezahegne (Women’s 10,000m) this month in Tunisia, and will Eunice Chebichii Chumba (Women’s Marathon) be looking to add to her medal Tejitu Daba (Women’s Marathon) haul in the global race. Meanwhile, three recently Men: crowned Arab champions will Salem Eid Yacoob (Mixed 4x400m Relay) be flying the Bahrain flag among the men. Abdelrahman Mahmoud Al Siddique Mikho Salem Eid Yacoob Winfred Yavi Musa Isah (Mixed 4x400m Relay) They are Abdelrahman Abbas Abubaker (Men’s 400m, Mixed 4x400m Relay) Mahmoud in the Men’s Shot Put, be running in both the Men’s Shumi Dechasa, who will all be Bahrain have won three Olym- John Koech (Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase) Al Siddique Mikho in the Men’s 400m and the Mixed 4x400m going for Olympic gold in the pic medals in the past, including 1,500m and Dawit Fikadu in the Relay. Also entered in the mixed Men’s Marathon. two gold and one silver. The gold Al Siddique Mikho (Men’s 1,500m) Men’s 5,000m. relay are Salem Eid Yacoob and The Tokyo Games are sched- medals were claimed by Mar- Birhanu Balew (Men’s 5,000m) Fikadu will be joined in the Musa Isah. uled to take place between July yam Yusuf Jamal at the London Dawit Fikadu (Men’s 5,000m) 5,000m by fellow-Bahraini Bir- The final two men who will 23 and August 8, with the athlet- Olympics in 2012 for the Wom- hanu Balew, while John Koech be selected for the relay and run ics events scheduled from July en’s 1,5000m and Ruth Jebet at Abdelrahman Mahmoud (Men’s Shot Put) will be contesting the Men’s alongside Salwa and Aminat will 30 to the closing day. the Rio Olympics in 2016 for the Elhassan Elabbassi (Men’s Marathon) 3,000m Steeplechase. be known prior to their race. A total of 48 events will be Women’s Marathon. That same Alemu Bekele (Men’s Marathon) There will be a trio of sprint- The men’s athletes are com- held on the track, in the field year, Eunice Kirwa claimed the ers among Bahrain’s men, led pleted by the trio of Elhassan and on the road (marathon and Women’s Marathon silver med- Shumi Dechasa (Men’s Marathon) by Abbas Abubaker, who will Elabbasi, Alemu Bekele and race walking). al. Falls again mar Tour de France as Tim Merlier wins stage AFP | Paris runner-up Roglic losing valuable shoulder before making it back hitting Merlier’s back wheel at time. With two mass pile-ups to the peloton with the help of over 80kph and taking Slovak ace favourites Primoz Ro- marring stage one and an en - three teammates. sprint specialist Sagan down Rglic and Geraint Thomas, suing hunt for the mystery cul- Scenes of Thomas shaking his with him, the pair sliding for as well as ace sprinters Peter prit French police have vowed legs when having his shoulder tens of metres on the tarmac. Sagan and Caleb Ewan were all to catch up with, followed by put back in by medics will live Ewan’s main rival from FDJ, involved in nasty crashes before the thrill and raw emotion of long in the memory. Arnaud Demarre, had also fallen Tim Merlier won a drama-filled Van der Poel winning one for Slovenia’s Roglic hit the tar- on a bend just outside Pontivy stage three of the Tour de France his illustrious cycling family on mac hip first with 10km to go and his manager Marc Madiot yesterday. stage two, drama was always and while shaken he also lim- was furious. Merlier’s teammate Mathieu likely to be coming round the ited his losses with the help of “Kids, families, mothers are van der Poel kept hold of the next corner. teammates. Although his Tour watching this, will mothers want overall lead on a brutal day of And so it proved on the sea- is not finished, he now has time their kids to cycle? We have been racing peppered with falls on front at the Plage de Testel, 2018 to make up on Tadej Pogacar and speaking about this for years, the rain-slick, narrow winding champion Thomas losing his Thomas. this isn’t cycling, what condition roads in Brittany with Thomas concentration and hitting the The worst fall came in the is Ewan in,” said an impassioned dislocating a shoulder and 2020 ground so hard he dislocated a Caleb Ewan of Australia and Peter Sagan of Slovakia fall during the 3rd stage home straight with Caleb Ewan Madiot.

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