Nigerian-born Bahrain athlete Edidiong Odiong wins at Asian Games

Nigerian-born Edidiong Odiong who is competing for Bahrain at the on-going Asian games has won the women’s 200m gold and claimed the prestigious sprint double at the continental games on Wednesday.



Wei Yongli of China again came third to claim bronze in an exact repeat of the top three places in Sunday’s 100m sprint final at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, ArabianBusiness reports.

Odiong, a former African junior champion, became the fourth woman to win the sprint double in a single Asian Games.

In the 100m, Odiong won in a photo-finish over Chand but was a clear winner on Wednesday, clocking 22.96 seconds. The 21-year-old finished in 11.30secs to become Asia’s fastest woman, ahead of Chand, who ran 11.32secs to pick up silver ahead of 2014 champion Yongli.

It also meant a silver sprint double for Chand, who missed the last Games in a row over her hyperandrogenism, which causes elevated testosterone levels and also affects South Africa’s Olympic champion Caster Semenya.

Other Nigerian-born stars have also won medals for Bahrain at the ongoing Games. Salwa Naser (Ebelechukwu Agbapuonwu) won the women’s 400m gold after finishing in 50.09secs while Femi Ogunode claimed silver in the men’s 100m in 10secs.

Odiong is one of the most talented young athletes discovered and groomed by the defunct Cross River Athletics Grassroots Developmental Initiative. She was regarded as a great asset for Nigeria in the women’s 400m and 4x400m events after representing the country at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships in Oregon, where she got to the final of the 400m, finishing 6th, and the 4x400m where she anchored the team to 5th place.

But in 2016, she joined a growing list of Nigerian athletes who ditched their country for oil-rich Bahrain in 2016 and have excelled for their adopted nation.

Precious Moses, now known as Moussa Ali Issa, Iman Isa Jassim, Basira Sharifa Nasir (Lolade Shodiya), Aminat Yusuf Jamal and Odiong, all competed for Bahrain at the World U20 Athletics Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.