18-year-old Mariam Kareem wins UAE's first gold medal at Asian Games 2026

Dubai: Mariam Kareem delivered the UAE’s first gold medal at the Asian Games 2026 after winning the women’s 400m hurdles final in a Games-record time of 54.31 seconds in Nagoya on Monday.

The 18-year-old produced another standout performance after qualifying fastest for the final with a personal best of 55.14 seconds. She then lowered that mark by almost a second to claim the UAE’s first athletics gold of the Games.

Kareem finished ahead of Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems, who took silver in 54.58 seconds. India’s Vithya Ramraj completed the podium in 54.75 seconds, breaking the national record previously set by P.T. Usha at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Kareem also broke the Asian Games record for the fastest 400m hurdles lap by a women, overcoming the record set by Bahrain's Kemi Adekoya in 2023 in Hangzhou.

The gold is another milestone in Kareem’s rapid rise on the international stage. Born in 2008, the UAE hurdler has competed at the Asian Championships and reached the top eight at the World U20 Championships. She entered the 2026 Asian Games after setting a UAE national under-20 record of 56.27 seconds in August.

Kareem’s victory also adds to the UAE’s athletics success at the Games. The country had opened its medal account through Sulaiman Abdulrahman, who won silver in the men’s 400m in 44.99 seconds.

The UAE had won five gold medals at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023, where it collected a record 20 medals overall. Kareem’s victory now gives the country another Asian Games athletics champion and its first gold of the Aichi-Nagoya edition.