Good weather for ducks as waddling walkers open athletics

DOHA, Dec 7 (Reuters) China's Han Yucheng walked through a storm with his head held high today to win the first athletics gold medal of the 15th Asian Games.

Only seven athletes lined up on an otherwise deserted seafront corniche for the early morning start to the men's 20km walk as rain once again lashed down on the desert Emirate.

''The rain was so heavy I couldn't open my eyes,'' Han said. ''It also affected my rhythm.'' South Korean Kim Hyun-sub and Japanese walkers Koichiro Morioka and Yuki Yamazaki kept Han company for the first eight kilometres but 2003 Asian champion Han then upped the pace and never looked back.

Even if walkers do waddle like ducks, wet weather is not conducive to fast times and he fell more than a minute shy of the Asian Games record, taking gold in one hour 21 minutes 41 seconds.

''I'm not satisfied with the result,'' he said. ''Before the Games I wanted to set a new Asian Games record but I did not.'' Kim won the silver, South Korea's first Asian Games medal in walking, and Morioka the bronze.

Liu Hong made it a walking double for China by claiming the women's 20km in 1:32.19, a minute a head of second-placed Ryoko Sakakura of Japan. He Dan won bronze for China.

REUTERS SAM KN1604