Sulaiman Abdulrahman wins UAE's first medal at Asian Games

The UAE won its first medal of the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Saturday as Sulaiman Abdulrahman claimed silver in the men's 400 metres.

Abdulrahman finished in 44.99 seconds, just 0.09 seconds behind Thailand's Joshua Atkinson, who took gold in 44.90 seconds.

The result continues an impressive year for the UAE athlete, who is still under 20. He won the 400m at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong earlier this year, setting a championship record of 44.85 seconds and becoming the first athlete in the competition's history to break the 45-second barrier.

Emmanuel Bamidele also represented the UAE in the men's 400m final, finishing in 45.97 seconds.

Major General Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al Murr, President of the UAE Athletics Federation, said Abdulrahman's performance demonstrated the progress being made by the country's young athletes.

"For us, this silver feels like gold, given the high standard of the race and the extremely narrow margin to first place," he said.

Elsewhere at the Games, Ali Khalfan Al Jahouri and Bianca Schütz qualified for the individual dressage freestyle final after finishing among the top 15 combinations across the two qualifying rounds.

It is the first time two UAE riders have qualified together for the individual freestyle final at a single edition of the Asian Games.

UAE athletes were also in action in archery, while Aminat Qamardeen competed in the women's 200m heats and Abdul Quddus Ali reached the men's 200m semi-finals.

The UAE will compete across shooting, athletics, fencing, equestrian, sailing and archery on the next day of competition.