HANGZHOU: The performance of young Saudi athletes at this year’s Asian Games so far has shown the world the support they receive from their country and sparked expectations of even better performances in upcoming international events.
Saudi participants in the 19th Asian Games in China have so far won 10 medals, including four golds — the country’s best performance in the Games since 2014.
Most of the medals were won in track and field, traditionally the Kingdom’s strongest area in the Asian Games. Saudi Arabia’s medal tally at this year’s Games is already nearly double its total at the last edition of the event in Indonesia in 2018.
On Sept. 30, Yousef Ahmed Masrahi won Saudi Arabia’s first gold in the men’s 400m event with a time of 45.55 seconds, just 0.02 seconds ahead of Japan’s Sato Kentaro, who won the Asian Championship a few months ago.