Muscat – Ali Al Balushi and Mulham Al Balushi claimed silver and bronze medals respectively in the men’s 100m at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya on Friday, delivering a rare double podium finish for Oman in one of the Games’ blue-riband events.

Ali took the silver in 10.04 seconds, while Mulham finished third in 10.11 seconds. Thailand’s Puripol Boonson won gold in 9.90 seconds.

The two medals add to Oman’s Asian Games tally of six – one gold, one silver and four bronze – before the Nagoya Games.

Mulham finished second in his qualifying heat in 10.13 seconds, behind Thailand’s Boonson, who clocked 9.91 seconds.

Ali advanced to the semi-finals after winning his group in 10.01 seconds, ahead of China’s Zheng Qi, who finished second in 10.18 seconds.

The 100m final featured nine athletes, including the two Omanis, runners from South Korea, China and Malaysia, besides Thailand.

The race was held at Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium, where the competition drew a strong crowd of Japanese spectators and supporters from across East and Southeast Asia.

Oman’s first athletics medal came at the 1986 Seoul Games, when Mohammed bin Amer Al Malki won bronze in 400m. He went on to claim gold in the same event at the 1990 Beijing Games.

The Omani 4x100m relay team secured bronze at the 1998 Bangkok Games, while Barakat Al Harthi won bronze in the men’s 100m at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.

At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Hussein Al Farsi won bronze in the 800m, while Musab Al Hadi and Waleed Al Kindi took silver in sailing.

The Nagoya double gives the sultanate two podium finishes in the men’s 100m for the first time in the event’s history.