The UAE’s athletics team finished fourth overall at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong after winning six medals.
The team ended the event with five gold medals and one bronze, placing behind China, India and Japan in the final standings.
The championships ran from May 28 to 31 and brought together athletes from 30 countries.
China topped the table with 25 medals, including 14 gold, nine silver and two bronze. India finished second with 18 medals, made up of nine gold, five silver and four bronze. Japan placed third with 17 medals, including five gold, five silver and seven bronze.
The UAE’s result came from a small squad of 10 athletes, across male and female events.
Major General Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al Mur, President of the UAE Athletics Federation, said the result carried extra weight because of the size of the squad.
He said many competing nations had entered more than 50 athletes, while the UAE had relied on a much smaller group. He described the fourth-place finish as an “exceptional achievement” against several countries with longer records in Asian athletics.
The performance adds to a strong period for UAE sport at youth and development level. For the athletics federation, the Hong Kong result also gives a clearer measure of where its young athletes stand against the continent’s best.
Al Mur said the result reflected the federation’s work in preparing young athletes through Gulf, Arab and Asian competition. He said that route remains part of a wider plan to build athletes capable of competing at international level.
He also congratulated the UAE medal winners and praised the rest of the team for their performances across the championship.
For a country still building depth in track and field, fourth place in Asia is a result worth noting. The harder task now is turning a medal return from a small squad into a wider base of young athletes who can keep the UAE in the conversation at future championships.
