Dubai: Dubai threw the race wide open for top honours at the end of the second day of the Fourth UAE School Olympic Games being held at various venues in Abu Dhabi.
At the end of the second day late on Friday, Dubai added eleven gold medals to the four won on the first day to stay within striking distance of Abu Dhabi, who managed to add just two more gold for a total of 16 gold.
Athletes from Abu Dhabi bagged a gold each in taekwondo and swimming to continue their reign at the top of the overall medals standings with 16 gold, eleven silver and ten bronze and a total of 37 medals after two days of the three-day meet.
Abu Dhabi had dominated the swimming, archery and judo competitions on the first day to lead all educational zones with their judokas making a near-sweep while winning seven of the eight gold medals. Swimmers from the Abu Dhabi region had also done well to further boost the medal tally while winning four gold, two silver and a bronze.
However, on the second day it was the turn of Dubai – overall champions in 2014 - to hog the limelight as the region won six gold, a couple of silver and bronze medals in the track and field competitions for girls under-12 and under-14. Dubai continued in second overall with 15 gold and ten silver and bronze each for a total of 35 medals.
Probably, the most significant performance came from Maryam Mohammad Yousuf of Dubai as she claimed the gold in the 400 metres run in a time of 1:12.58 minutes. The youngster had previously claimed top honours in the 600 metres in the previous two editions, making Friday’s medal her third straight gold in the competition.
“She [Yousuf] is among the few athletes who have shown consistent form in the past three years. This year we spent adequate time in getting out athletes ready for this challenge while also roping in specialised coaches and trainers,” Ahmad Abdul Rahman, co-ordinator for the Dubai zone told Gulf News.
“In addition to the allocated budget from the Education Ministry, we ensured we had a specially-designated fund from our zone to enable our athletes to get maximum exposure to train and reach their potential in time for the final,” he added.
With Abu Dhabi and Dubai vying for the top spot in the overall standings, it was Sharjah keeping pace in third place with 43 medals, of which eleven are gold, 15 silver and 17 bronze. Fujairah are in fourth with six gold, four silver and nine bronze while Al Ain and Ajman were involved in a keen tussle for fifth overall with four gold each. However, Al Ain held a distinct edge with ten silver and 16 bronze for a total of 30, while Fujairah have four silver and nine bronze and a total of 19 medals.
Saturday was the final day of competition with the boys contesting for medals in archery, shooting, judo, fencing and jiu-jitsu at various locations in the capital.
