Liu Xiang, Li Caixia win golds in Asian Games athletics
China won two more gold medals in the 2010 Asian Games athletics competition on Wednesday. Former world and Olympic champion Liu Xiang easily won the men's 110m hurdles while Li Caixia ruled the women's
pole vault.
Athens Olympics champion Liu posted a winning time of 13.09 seconds to claim his third consecutive Asian Games gold in his pet event.
"I didn't expect to run 13.09 because I am not yet back to a very high level," said Liu, who was forced to withdraw from his favourite event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to injury.
Liu crossed the finish line ahead of team-mate s**+ Dongpeng (13.38) and South Korean Park Tae-dyong (13.48).
Li Caixia cleared 4.30m to win the pole vault gold. She actually finished tied with compatriot Li Ling but was awarded the gold as she had less attempts. Japan's Tomomi Abiko bagged the bronze with a best
effort of 4.15m.
In the men's long jump, Kim Deok-hyeon denied defending champion Hussain Taher A Alsaba of Saudi Arabia a third straight title. The South Korean registered a season best jump of 8.11m. Alsaba managed only
7.96m and settled for the bronze.
China's Su Xiongfeng won the silver with a jump of 8.05m. Kim's victory assured a Korean sweep of the long jump disciplines after Jung Soo-nok topped the women's event yesterday.
Iranian fans also celebrated at the Aoti Main Stadium as Ehsan Hadadi defended his men's discus throw crown. He hurled the metal plate at a distance of 67.99m to easily beat Qatar's Ahmed Mohammed Dheeb
(64.56m) and team-mate Mohammad Samimi (63.46m).
Qatar’s Femi Ogunode set the fastest time in the men's 200m heats. The Nigeria-born runner, who earlier won gold in the 400m, clocked 20.58.
Omar Juma Alsalfa of the United Arab Emirates topped the second head with a personal best of 20.63 while India's Sathya Suresh won the third heat in 21.02.
In the women's 800m heats, world champion Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain easily won the third race in 2:04.54. The Ethiopian-born runner won the 1,500m on Tuesday and is aiming to win another double just
like she did four years ago at the Doha Asiad.
Margarita Matsko of Kazakhstan won the first heat in 2:03.23 while Tintu Lukka of India ruled the second heat in 2:03.85.
Dimitriy Karpov of Kazakhstan is the leader in the decathlon with 4245 points. He is 224 points ahead of South Korean Kim Kun-woo entering the second day of competition.
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