Bahrain's Ashete wins Asian Games women's marathon gold in Nagoya

Ashete, 36, crossed the line in 2 hours 27 minutes 31 seconds on the rain-hit course in Nagoya, leaving China's Sirankoumu Koumu 12 seconds behind in 2 hours 27 minutes 43 seconds. Japan's Mikuni Yada was third in 2 hours 27 minutes 56 seconds. The result gives Bahrain the women's marathon title at the Games being held in Aichi-Nagoya. The gold completes a long Asian Games journey for the runner, who was born in Ethiopia. Her bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 16th Games, held in Guangzhou in 2010, came in 31 minutes 53.27 seconds, behind India's Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut. She went on to win the Asian 10,000 metres title in 2011, 2013 and 2019, and World Athletics records list her personal best over the distance at 30 minutes 47.25 seconds. Born in Ethiopia on May 21, 1990, Ashete has represented Bahrain since 2009, when she won the junior women's title at the Asian Cross Country Championship held in Bahrain. She ran the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the 2012 London Olympics, finishing sixth in the longer race, and started but did not finish the marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She paused her career in 2014 to have children and returned to competition late in 2015. In recent years she has concentrated on the marathon, winning in Hamburg in 2018, finishing second in Prague in 2019 and setting her personal best of 2:20:32 in Hamburg in 2025. Ashete, a mother of three, said her career is approaching its final stage, with the 2027 World Championships the last big target she has set herself, according to the report.