Arab countries sweep 10,000-meter race in Asiad

William Foreman, Associated Press, Busan, South Korea

Makhld Al Otaibi unleashed a blistering kick in the final lap of the men's 10,000-meter race Monday, winning the gold medal on the opening day of the Asian Games athletics program.

The Saudi Arabian finished in 28 minutes, 41.89 seconds to lead an Arab sweep of the race. Ahmed Ibrahim M.W. Hashim of Qatar crossed the line in 28:43.53 for the silver and Abdul Hak Zakaria of Bahrain got the bronze with a time of 28:46.11.

Japanese runners Tomoo Tsubota and Atsushi Satoh pushed the pace during the first half of the race before Zakaria surged past them. Al Otaibi, Hashim and Aman Majid Awad of Qatar sprinted away with Zakaria.

Zakaria led at the beginning of the last lap until approaching the final turn when Al Otaibi broke out of the pack and blew past the other runners.

In the 20-kilometer walk, Kazakhstan won the men's race and China took the women's event.

Valeriy Borissov trailed the leaders in the men's competition on the streets of Busan until the last kilometer when he kicked past silver medalist Yu Chaohong of China, crossing the line in 1 hour, 24 minutes, 20 seconds.

Borissov won the silver in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, but he placed fifth in the East Asian games in Osaka last year.

Yu finished in 1:24:23 and 31-year-old Satoshi Yanagisawa of Japan won the bronze with a time of 1:25:33.

In the women's event, China's Wang Qingqing won the gold with a time of 1:33:40, and her compatriot Gao Kelian got the silver, finishing in 1:33:59. The bronze went to Kazakhstan's Svetlana Tolstaya, who had 1:35:03.

Wang said that cool conditions helped her race but brisk headwinds slowed her down. "The wind was a bit too strong," she said.

In the women's javelin, Lee Young-sun of South Korea upset China's strong team and won the gold with a throw of 58.87 meters. The silver went to China's Liang Lili, who recorded a toss of 58.77 meters. China's Ha Xiaoyan won the bronze with 58.29 meters.

Lee said she just hoped to finish in the top three in what she announced was her last international meet.

India's Anju Bobby George won the gold in the women's long jump, leaping 6.53 meters. Maho Hanoaka of Japan got the silver with a jump of 6.47 meters and Yelena Kochsheyeva won the bronze with 6.3 meters.

George said she expected to win the gold, and she thought that she could have done much better.

"Before coming, I did 6.74 twice, and I've been 6.80-plus in training sessions," she said.

George said part of the problem was that the runways were too hard and didn't have enough spring.