Asian Games 2023 athletics: Ueyama Koki narrowly wins close men's 200m final
The Japanese sprinter edges out Abdullah Abkar Mohammed of Saudi Arabia by 0.03 seconds to win in Hangzhou.
Athletics
Japan's Ueyama Koki topped a close athletics men's 200m final at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou on Monday (2 October), sealing Japan's first gold medal of the track and field meet in Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.
The 2023 Asian Championships bronze medallist came from behind to win, with Qatar's Nigerian-born sprinter Femi Ogunode leading for the front half of the race.
But both Ueyama and Saudi Arabia's Abdullah Abkar Mohammed – who won silver at the continental championships in Bangkok ahead of Ueyama – sprinted away on the straight, with Ueyama pipping Mohammed on the line as the Saudi athlete tumbled over in his dip, before banging his fist on the track in frustration.
Ueyama's winning time was 20.60 into a slight headwind, just ahead of Mohammed's 20.63. Behind them, Chinese Taipei's Yang Chun-han edged out Ogunode for bronze.
There was to be double joy for Japan as Ueyama's teammate Takayama Shunya added a second gold in the very next race, dead-heating in a tie for gold in the men's 110m hurdles final.