BAHRAIN’S leading elite runners are back in action today on day two of the athletics competition at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Ruth Jebet and Tigest Getent will both be competing in the heats of the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, while Salwa Eid Nasser and Oluwakemi Adekoya will be running in the heats of the women’s 400m.
On the distaff, Andrew Fisher and Kemarley Brown will appear in the men’s 100m heats.
Ruth and Tigest will be kicking things off in their races starting at 4.05pm, Bahrain time. There are three heats in all. Ruth will be running in heat one and Tigest in heat two.
Both Bahrainis are favoured to qualify for their final. Only the first three in each race plus the six fastest losers go through to the medal round.
Ruth is a former junior World champion in the steeplechase. She heads into her first race in Rio with a season’s best time of eight minutes 59.97 seconds, which is also her personal best.
Tigest is also capable of contending for a medal. She was a steeplechase silver-medallist at the world under-20 level. Her season’s best is 9:31.84 and personal best is 9:20.65.
At 5pm, Bahrain time, Oluwakemi Adekoya and Salwa Eid Nasser are expected to compete in their 400m heats. Oluwakemi is in the third of eight heats and Salwa is in the sixth.
Both are top contenders in this distance and each is expected to go through to the semi-finals. Only the top two in each heat plus the eight fastest losers advance.
Oluwakemi is the reigning World indoor champion in the 400m. She heads into today’s race with a season’s best of 51.80s and a personal best of 50.86s.
Salwa is also one to look out for. She is a former World junior champion in the distance. She has a season’s best of 51.63s and a personal best of 51.39s.
Among Bahrain’s men, Fisher and Brown get out onto the track at 6pm this evening for the men’s 100m heats.
Both are renowned sprinters and hope they can fly the kingdom’s flag high in arguably the sport’s most popular event.
Fisher is confident he can improve on his season’s best of 10.07s and bring it close to his personal top mark of 9.94s
Brown is also hoping to turn some heads. His season’s best is 10.03s and a personal record of 9.93s.
Meanwhile, Bahraini wrestler Adam Batirov arrived in Rio yesterday and was welcomed by Bahrain delegation members, led by Bahrain Olympic Committee secretary general Abdulrahman Askar and Chef de Mission Yusef Abdulqader.
Batirov is a veteran wrestler who will be facing some of the world’s best in the men’s under-65kg weight category. Baritov will only be competing in the next few days.