The UAE national athletics team opened its Arab U20 Athletics Championship campaign with two medals in Tunisia.
Abdul Quddus Ali won gold in the men’s 100m at Rades Olympic Stadium, finishing in 10.59 seconds. The run also set a new UAE youth national record, beating the previous mark of 10.65 seconds set by Mohammed Ali Mubarak in 2005.
His teammate Abdullah Mashhood made it two UAE athletes on the podium. He took bronze in the same race with a time of 10.86 seconds.
The 21st Arab U20 Athletics Championship runs in Tunisia until April 30 and features athletes from 14 countries.
Ali Ghazwan, manager of the UAE team, said the opening-day results showed the progress being made by the squad at age-group level.
He said the team had arrived with promising young athletes, and pointed to the work being done by the federation under Major General Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al Mur to develop competitors across different disciplines.
The medals offer an encouraging start to the championship for the UAE. They also give the team a clear marker in the sprint events, with Ali’s record run adding weight to the result.
