Teenager Sulaiman Abdulrahman claimed the UAE's first medal of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games after taking silver in a thrilling men's 400 metres final.
Abdulrahman, still an under-20 athlete, clocked 44.99 seconds to finish just 0.09 seconds behind Thailand's Joshua Atkinson, who took gold in 44.90s.
UAE teammate Emmanuel Bamidele was also in the final, finishing fifth in 45.97s.
The result continued an impressive year for Abdulrahman, who won 400m gold at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong earlier this year.
His winning time of 44.85 was a championship record and made him the first athlete in the competition's history to break the 45-second barrier.
“For us, this silver feels like gold, given the high standard of the race and the extremely narrow margin to first place,” said Major General Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al Murr, president of the UAE Athletics Federation.
“Sulaiman delivered an outstanding performance that reflects how we want UAE athletics to be represented on the continental and international stages.
“This achievement carries even greater significance because Sulaiman is still an under-20 athlete.”
Al Murr said Abdulrahman's medal and the performances of the country's emerging athletes provided further encouragement for the UAE's long-term ambitions in the sport.
“We believe that investing in young talent is the way to build a generation capable of competing for medals at continental and international level,” he said.
“What we are seeing today is the result of sustained work and continued investment in athletics.
“We will continue to build on these results in the next phase as we pursue greater ambitions and strive to raise the UAE flag on the podium.”
The UAE also enjoyed a strong showing in dressage, with Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri and Bianca Schutz qualifying for the individual freestyle final after finishing among the top 15 combinations.
Al Jahouri, riding Lotus-S, recorded an aggregate score of 132.736 across the two qualifying rounds, while Schutz and Le Grand Ayden HB finished on 132.706. They became the first two UAE riders to reach the individual freestyle final at the same Asian Games.
In the final, Schutz and Al Jahouri finished 12th and 13th respectively.
Indian badminton medallist decries 'sad' Games
Indian badminton medallist HS Prannoy has criticised Asian Games organisers for putting on a “sad” event for athletes and arranging a “cruel” competition schedule for his sport.
Prannoy, who won a men's team bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, said the lack of a dedicated athletes' village had taken away the joy of mixing with other competitors, who had been spread across hotels, temporary wooden units and a cruise ship.
“The whole fun and the whole point of multi-sport events is you get to meet the rest of the players,” he said in a video interview posted on the Badminton Association of India's YouTube channel on Saturday.
“There is an opportunity to mingle with them. There is an opportunity to have a conversation with them. We only felt that when we went for the opening ceremony.
“It was literally sad to be in such a situation.”
Prannoy said the Games compared poorly to his experience at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where he was part of the silver medal-winning men's team.
“Straight from China, you expect things to be better three-four years later but in this event, [it went] downwards. A lot of [athletes] had difficult experiences in terms of accommodation and transport.
“It was just a mediocre event, to be honest.”
On Saturday, an Aichi-Nagoya Games organising committee official apologised for logistical mistakes that have affected athletes, saying accommodation and transport had improved and that staff were working “to identify the causes of each mistake and make sure they don't happen again”.
Many athletes and teams have complained of logistical problems at the Games, ranging from long waits to check in to their rooms, to transport glitches.
Prannoy also criticised the badminton scheduling, noting players in the singles tournament had competed in two matches a day, one more than usual.
“It's cruel because everybody is aiming for a good Asian Games, which comes once in four years. To have two singles games in a day, I haven't seen it like that in ages,” said Prannoy.
