Sana’a: Yemen concluded its participation in the 3rd Asian Youth Games, which wrapped up today in Manama, featuring five thousand participants from 45 Asian countries. Yemen’s final competitor at the Games, national swimmer Abdullah Shmeila, participated in the 50-meter breaststroke race, finishing seventh among participants from eight countries. Shmeila set a new personal record by completing the distance in 39.28 seconds, improving his previous time of 40.30 seconds by over a second.
According to Yemen News Agency, Yemen was represented by 35 athletes and coaches across ten sports, including table tennis, basketball, judo, wrestling, weightlifting, taekwondo, boxing, camel racing, swimming, and athletics. During the competition, Yemen secured two bronze medals. The first was won by camel racing athlete Iman Mohammed Salem in the 500-meter race, and the second by judo athlete Younes Nasser in the 50 kg weight category.
Yemen has been a participant in the Asian Youth Games since its first edition. In the inaugural Games held in Singapore in 2009, athletics athlete Walid Alayya won gold in the 1500-meter race. During the second edition held in China in 2013, athletics athlete Mohammed Rajeh secured a bronze in the 2000-meter steeplechase.
In a related development, the Yemen Olympic Committee, represented by the administrative delegation participating in the Games, honored judo athlete Younes Hussein Nasser Mohammed for his bronze medal achievement in the 50 kg category. The Yemeni delegation head Louay Sabri, along with Olympic Committee Secretary-General Mohammed Al-Ahjeri, sports delegation head Mohammed Al-Sarmi, board members Nawal Shafiq, Amin Al-Mudai, Mohammed Al-Eidrous, and President of the Yemeni and Arab Judo Federations Naaman Shaher, presented Younes with a financial reward.