ATHLETICS – BAHRAIN bagged three medals yesterday, including two gold, in the fifth CISM Military World Winter Games in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The medals were won in the cross-country running individual events, with world and Olympic champion Winfred Yavi taking gold amongst the women and Albert Rop winning gold in the men’s race.
Yavi secured her title after completing her race’s eight-kilometre course in a total time of 38 minutes 38.3 seconds.
Fellow-Bahraini Violah Motosio joined her on the podium after winning the bronze medal. She completed her run in 31:03.0.
Ranked between the pair and winning the silver medal was Manon Trapp of France. She finished in 30:59.5 and was the overall leader after the first of four laps. Trapp was overtaken by Yavi in the second lap.
Also running for Bahrain was former Olympic champion Ruth Jebet, who took a spot in the top eight in seventh position. She had a time of 32:51.9 in the event.
On the distaff, Rop secured his gold medal in the men’s event, held over a 10km course, with a time of 34:26.4. He finished ahead of silver-medallist Joseph Panga of Tanzania, who clocked a mark of 34:32.7, while Djilali Bedrani of France came third in 34:45.5.
Bahrain’s Hasan Chani was also classified in the top 10. He finished eighth in 35:33.7, while Neremwa Abraham was 14th for Bahrain in 36:05.9.
Both Yavi and Rop claimed their second gold medals in the history of the CISM World Military Games, but first in the winter event.
Yavi had previously captured gold in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase in the summer edition in 2019, while Rop clinched gold in the men’s 5,000m at the 2015 summer games.
Meanwhile, Yavi and Rop will be looking to secure a golden double at the CISM Military World Winter Games as they will be racing as part of Bahrain’s mixed relay team today.
As per the official start list, Yavi and Rop are joining Birhanu Balew and Nelly Korir in the event, which will see a field of nearly 30 teams battling for a place in the top three.
The race will be held along a two-kilometre course with the teams running four laps to the finish.
The fifth CISM Military World Winter Games is bringing together around 1,400 participants representing over 40 nations from all over the world. The multi-sport event is being held under the banner of the International Military Sports Council (CISM).
The meeting is scheduled to continue until Sunday. The top-class military athletes are competing in 10 different winter sports, with the cross-country running being a supplementary event. The other sports are alpine skiing, snowboarding, parachute skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski orienteering, patrol race, ski-mountaineering, and climbing.
Competition is taking place under the motto ‘Military Champions for Peace’, and action is taking place at six different venues, with Lucerne forming the organisational heart as host city.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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