Dubai: UAE runner Alia Mohammad Saeed won the gold medal in a 3,000-metre race in Singapore on Saturday.

The race win was part of the qualifying rounds and took place in the Olympic Stadium in Singapore.

Alia faced strong competition from her Chinese, Japanese, Kazakhstan and Singaporean counterparts.

The win however, was Alia's as she grasped the gold medal in nine minutes and 15 seconds, breaking her previous record of nine minutes and 24 seconds achieved in the Arab Athletics Championship in Cairo.

Alia expressed profound happiness for her victory, but said she hoped she would beat her previous national record by a greater margin. She said her mind was mostly occupied with her injury, but she still managed to maintain her lead and achieve victory in the race.

Alia returns to the UAE Monday, but will leave again in the next few days for a two-month training camp outside the country to prepare for the Youth Olympic games and 16th Asian games.