2013 Asian Athletics Championship

The 2013 Asian Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the biennial athletics competition between Asian nations. It was held at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune, India between July 3–7. Around 580 athletes from 43 nations competed at the event (42 events held). It was the first time since 1989 that India had hosted the championships. Prior to

the competition, the election of the Asian Athletics Association president was convened in Pune. Qatar's Mr. Dahlan Jumaan al-Hamad (an IAAF vice-president) defeated the incumbent, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi of India, by a margin of 20 votes to 18. Kalmadi, on bail for corruption charges stemming from the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, did not attend the championships. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Prithviraj Chavan, declared the event open at the championships opening ceremony.

The competition was originally set to take place in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Ms. Jayalalithaa, the Chief Minister of the state, ordered the removal of Sri Lanka from the competition on the grounds of war crimes committed during the Sri Lankan Civil War. This request was ignored by the Athletics Federation of India and in February 2013 Chennai withdrew as hosts of the championships. The federation approached the state governments of Jharkhand and Delhi, with the venues of Ranchi and New Delhi being suggested, but both states refused the host duties. Finally, in May the Maharashtra government agreed to host the event in Pune on the same dates agreed for the Chennai event. Pune already had a suitable track and field stadium that had recently played host to the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008. The budget given for the championships, however, was significantly reduced.

China, the traditional regional leader at the competition, easily took the top spot in the medal rankings with sixteen gold medals and 27 medals in total. This maintained its streak as the best nation of the tournament – a run dating back to the 1983 edition. Second-placed Bahrain took five golds and fifteen medals overall (although Ali Khamis Khamis, the 400 metres runner-up, was their only native-born medallist). Japan placed third in the medal rankings with four golds and had the second greatest overall haul with 20 medals. In fifth place the hosts India had the next biggest haul, with 17 medals in total, although Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan had a greater number of gold medals.

Medals Tally:-

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	16	6	5	27
2	Bahrain	5	7	3	15
3	Japan	4	6	10	20
4	Saudi Arabia	4	2	1	7
5	Uzbekistan	3	4	1	8
6	India	2	6	9	17
7	Kazakhstan	2	1	2	5
8	UAE	2	1	0	3
9	Qatar	1	2	1	4
10	Thailand	1	0	2	3

BEST ATHLETES OF THE MEET

Men:- Mr. Yousef Ahmed Masrahi (Saudi Arabia); 400m

Women:- Ms. Ruth Jebet (Bahrain); 3000m Steeplechase

Related Links:-

Performance of India in 2013 Asian Athletics Championships