INCHEON, South Korea—Days after setting an Asian record in the 100 meters, Qatar’s Femi Ogunode powered to victory in the Asian Games 200 on Wednesday.
Next on his list: The best sprinters in the world.
“One hundred meters, 200 meters, I can take on anyone,” the Nigerian-born Ogunode said, singling out world 100 record-holder Usain Bolt, and Yohan Blake, who holds the second-fastest time.
“I see myself achieving greatness.”
Ogunode thrilled the Incheon crowd on Sunday with a new Asian time of 9.93 seconds in the 100, just 0.24 off Blake’s time, and 0.35 away from the world record.
On Wednesday he pulled away from the field to clock 20.14, a Games record and within 0.11 seconds of Shingo Suetsugu’s 11-year-old Asian mark.
In the night’s other athletics highlight, Olympic champion triple jumper Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan successfully defended her Asian Games title in just her third meet since returning to competition in August.
Rypakova took 18 months off to have her second child after winning gold at the London Olympics. In addition to the 2010 Asian Games triple jump title, Rypakova also won the heptathlon at the 2006 Asiad in Qatar.
Danan Almntfage won Iraq’s first gold of the Games when he was named winner of the men’s 800 following the disqualification of the original winner, Abdulaziz Ladan Mohammed of Saudi Arabia, for obstruction.
Kazakhstan’s Margarita Mukasheva ran down India’s Lukka Tintu to win the women’s 800. Tintu led for much of the race before fading over the last 20 meters, similar to her performance at the London Olympics, where she finished 10th.
Wu Shujia of China won the women’s 100 hurdles, and Takayuki Tanii of Japan the men’s 50-kilometer race walk by nine minutes in a Games record three hours and 40.19 seconds.
Elsewhere, North Korea downed defending champion Japan, 3-1, in the women’s football final.
North Korea earned the only goal in the first half, and doubled the lead seven minutes into the second half. Aya Miyama got one back for Japan four minutes later, but Ho Un Byol sealed the win three minutes from time.
In the bronze-medal match, South Korea scored three second-half goals to defeat Vietnam, 3-0. North Korea plays South Korea in the men’s final on Thursday. They met in the final in 1978, when the game ended goalless and the title was shared.
The men’s and women’s 400 hurdles were won by a pair of Bahrainis: Ali Khamis and Oluwakemi Mujidat Adekoya, while China’s Zhang Li won the women’s javelin with a Games record throw of 65.47 meters, and Keisuke Ushiro of Japan won the decathlon.
South Korea won three out of four taekwondo golds, and beat China, 1-0, in the women’s field hockey final. Kazakhstan took the men’s water polo gold.
At the end of Day 12 of the 16-day Games, China stood firmly atop the gold-medal tally with 131, followed by host South Korea with 62 and Japan with 39.
The fourth and fifth cases of doping at the Games were announced: Iraqi weightlifter Mohammed Jasim Abood al Alfuri tested positive for steroids etiocholanolone and androsterone, and Syrian karate competitor Nour Aldin Al for the stimulant clenbuterol, both in pre-competition tests.
Christopher Bodeen / The Associated Press
Image credits: AP