{
  "id": 12092624,
  "title": "UAE’s golden generation shines as athletes return with record Asian Games haul",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/uaes-golden-generation-shines-as-athletes-return-with-record-asian-12092624",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-05T06:03:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National Business",
    "slug": "the-national-business",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/2026/10/05/uaes-golden-generation-shines-as-athletes-return-with-record-asian-games-haul/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The UAE's athletes returned from Japan's Asian Games with a record-breaking haul of 13 medals, including a historic seven golds. This outperformed their previous best, achieved at the 2020 Asian Games in Hangzhou. The UAE finished 13th in the medals table out of 45 participating nations.\n\nSheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, president of the UAE Olympic Committee, hailed the achievement as a proud moment for the country, reflecting the determination of UAE athletes and their ambition to rise among Asia's leading sporting nations. Every medal, he noted, represented years of preparation, sacrifice, and hard work by athletes, coaches, support teams, and national federations.\n\nFive of the UAE's seven gold medals came in jiu-jitsu, a discipline the country has heavily invested in over the past two decades. Jiu-jitsu is part of the public school curriculum and is taught at police cadet academies across the nation. The strong jiu-jitsu performance was led by five athletes: Balqees Al Hashmi, Khaled Al Shehhi, Ahmed Andeez, Mahdi Al Awlaqi, and Asma Al Hosani, with Al Anoud Al Harbi and Omar Al Suwaidi winning silver, and Amaar Al Hosani claiming bronze.\n\nIn athletics, 18-year-old Mariam Kareem claimed the first gold medal of the Games by winning the women's 400m hurdles final, setting an Asian Games record time of 54.31 seconds. UAE Athletics Federation president Major General Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al Murr praised Kareem's exceptional talent and potential. Sulaiman Abdulrahman secured the country's first medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, winning silver in the men's 400m final, narrowly missing gold by just 0.09 seconds.\n\nEquestrian saw the UAE finish their Games with a second silver medal, following Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi and Hudson de Vains' success in the men's individual show jumping competition. In the team final, the UAE narrowly missed out on a gold medal, with only four faults among the five clears produced by the team, led by Sheikha Latifah bint Ahmed Al Maktoum. The UAE's equestrian team won four Asian Games medals across three editions, a record shared by Malaysia's Quzandria Nur Mahamad Fathil.",
  "summary": "The UAE's athletes return from Japan on Monday knowing they have just delivered the country's best performance at any Asian Games. At the Games, held in Aichi-Nagoya, the UAE secured 13 medals – including a record seven golds – surpassing their previous best performance, set at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou three years ago. Overall, the UAE finished 13th in the medals table out of 45 nations.…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The National UAE",
        "title": "UAE’s golden generation shines as athletes return with record Asian Games haul",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/uaes-golden-generation-shines-as-athletes-return-with-record-asian",
        "published": "2026-10-05T06:03:37.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}