Qatari player Mubarak Hassan Shami stretches his arms to the sky while reaching the finish line of the men's marathon final at Doha Asiad, Qatar, Dec. 10, 2006. Shami won the gold medal in the event with a time of 2 hours 12 minutes and 44 seconds.(Xinhua Photo)

Mubarak Hassan Shami grabbed Qatar's first gold medal in athletics events of this Asian Games on Sunday when the Kenya-born runner won the men's marathon with a time of 2 hours 12 minutes 44 seconds.

Shami, silver medalist at last year's world half-marathon championships, broke away from the leading pack halfway the 42.195-kilometer race and never relinquished the lead.

"I broke away because everybody else in the race was running very slow," said Shami, who was born in Kenya.

"The chase pack today was much too slow. That makes my gold medal much easier to get," he added.

Khalid Kamal Yaseen of Bahrain and Japanese Satoshi Osaki finished only a thin whisker apart, both timed in 2:15:36. Yaseentook the silver and Osaki had the bronze.

South Korea's hopes to win the event for the fifth consecutive time were dashed as its two runners Ji Young-Jun and Kim Yi Yong came seventh and 14th respectively.

Despite faring badly in athletics in previous years, South Korean marathoners had topped the podium at every Asiad since the 1990 edition in Beijing.

Shami, formerly known as Richard Yatich, was one of the large foreign legions that Qatar imported for sports success.

"Everybody in Kenya is running, is running faster, everyone wants gold. If I was in Kenya maybe I would not be able to run for the country," said the 26-year-old.

Editor: Donald