The head of the UAE Athletics Federation has praised Mariam Kareem's "exceptional achievement" in winning the country's first gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games.
Kareem came home first in the women's 400m hurdles final in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday, setting a new Asian Games record time of 54.31 seconds.
The teenager had qualified for the final with a dominant run in the heats on Sunday as she clocked a personal-best time of 55.14 seconds.
“We are proud of Mariam Kareem’s exceptional achievement. She not only delivered the UAE’s first gold medal of the Games, but also set a new Games record of 54.31 seconds and recorded the world’s best U20 time of 2026 – all at just 18 years of age,” said Major General Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al Murr, president of the UAE Athletics Federation.
“This underlines the emergence of a promising Emirati talent with all the attributes to compete at the highest level on the global stage.”
Gold rush
Kareem's gold medal capped a remarkable season for the athlete after she also won 400m hurdles gold at the Asian U20 Championships in Hong Kong.
Previously, Kareem picked up two gold medals at the 2025 Asian U18 Athletics Championships in Dammam in the 200m and 400m hurdles.
She represented the UAE at the 2024 Olympics, running a personal best time of 13.26 in the 100m, although she failed to progress to the preliminary heats.
What they said
“This achievement is a manifestation of the tremendous support extended to UAE sport by our wise leadership. It reflects the success of our investment in national talent and the continuous efforts to advance UAE athletics,” Al Murr said.
“Today’s achievement further strengthens our ambitions to compete for podium places at World Championships and Olympic Games.”
Sulaiman Abdulrahman
The UAE's first medal of the Games was won by Sulaiman Abdulrahman, who finished second in the men's 400m final in a time of 44.99 seconds to finish just 0.09 seconds behind Thailand's Joshua Atkinson, who took gold.
“For us, this silver feels like gold, given the high standard of the race and the extremely narrow margin to first place,” Al Murr said.
“Sulaiman delivered an outstanding performance that reflects how we want UAE athletics to be represented on the continental and international stages."
The result continued an impressive year for the 19-year-old, 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.
