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Rediff.com  » Sports » Asian Games: Marathon winner accused of pushing rival

Asian Games: Marathon winner accused of pushing rival

Last updated on: August 25, 2018 15:14 IST
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Japan's Hiroto Inoue reacts after finishing the men's marathon final at the Asian Games on Saturday

IMAGE: Japan's Hiroto Inoue reacts after finishing the men's marathon final at the Asian Games on Saturday. Photograph: Beawiharta/Reuters

Hiroto Inoue won the Asian Games men's marathon in a controversial sprint finish on Saturday, with Bahrain later lodging a complaint to race officials, accusing the Japanese runner of barging second-place finisher Elhassan Elabbassi.

Inoue was marginally ahead in the final 100 metres when the Moroccan-born Elabbassi tried to overtake the Japanese on the inside of the stadium track but the duo made contact with the Bahraini stumbling slightly and losing ground to his rival.

"We have lodged a complaint with the race officials," Bahrain's chef de mission Mohammed Bader told Reuters.

 

"Our athlete would have easily won the race. The Japanese athlete kept blocking him. Everyone saw that."

The duo were credited with an identical time of two hours, 18 minutes and 22 seconds.

"It was a tough race. I knew I'd win in the home stretch so I went all out," Inoue said after claiming the first gold of the athletics programme in Jakarta.

The 25-year-old became the first Japanese to win the event since 1986 when Takeyuki Nakayama triumphed in a Games record time of 2:08:21.

Elabbassi's silver is Bahrain's first medal of the Games.

Dou Bujie, who finished 26 seconds adrift to claim bronze on a hot morning in the Indonesia capital, became the first Chinese athlete to win a medal in the men's marathon event.

Iran's Moradi breaks weightlifting snatch record

Iranian Olympic champion Sohrab Moradi broke the world snatch record in the men's 94kg weightlifting event at the Asian Games on Saturday.

Moradi, who won gold at Rio two years ago, set new world marks for clean and jerk (233kg) and total weight (417kg) at the world championships in Anaheim last year and now has all three records in the category under his name.

The 29-year-old, who served a two-year doping ban from 2013 after testing positive for methadone, hoisted 189kg above his head on Saturday to improve on the 188kg Greece's Akakios Kakiasvilis lifted in 1999.

After lifting 182kg on his first attempt, Moradi increased the weight to 189kg but initially failed before succeeding on his third attempt to snare the record.

OCA confirms Korea complaint against Chinese swimmer

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has received a complaint from South Korea against a Chinese athlete for kicking swimmer Kim Hye-jin during training at the Asian Games, the governing body said on Saturday.

The Korean Olympic and Sport Committee (KSOC) said Kim had accidentally hit the female Chinese swimmer while they were training in the pool on Thursday.

The Chinese swimmer could not understand Kim’s apology and later kicked her at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Center, the KSOC said, prompting coaches from both sides to step in and separate them.

OCA international director Vinod Tiwari declined to dwell on the incident in Friday's news conference but a spokesman confirmed receiving the complaint without elaborating on the procedure.

The Chinese officials apologised at the scene and later at the athletes village but the KSOC decided to lodge a complaint against the swimmer.

"Assaults should not happen in sports," Korean chef de mission Kim Seong-jo told reporters on Friday.

"Even if there was an apology from the Chinese athlete, this incident should be investigated and proper actions should be made."

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Source: REUTERS
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