Li Yanxi also contributed by defending his men’s triple jump title as the hosts cemented their lead in the medals race on the last day of track competition in athletics.
With only the men’s and women’s marathons left on Saturday, China wrapped up the six-day program at Aoti Main Stadium with a commanding 12 gold medals. India and Bahrain had five golds apiece. Japan and Kazakhstan each have four.
The 25-year-old Lao completed the final leg of the 4x100 with a clear lead, helping China post a team-best time of 38.78 seconds. Taiwan trailed by 0.27 seconds and Thailand took bronze.
Lao celebrated by blowing a kiss at the camera, then later dropped to his knees and raised his arms.
“I am so emotional. This team gold is more important than my 100 gold,” Lao said.
Teammate Liang Jiahong praised Lao for making up for his poor baton handover. “Luckily, Lao Yi had a world-class performance,” Liang said.
Thailand was the surprise winner of the women’s race, clocking 44.09 seconds as they interrupted Chinese dominance of six straight golds in the event. No female sprinters from Thailand finished in the top three of either the 100 or the 200, but that didn’t prevent them putting togther a winning team.
Nongnuch Sanrat flashed a wide smile as she overtook China’s Ye Jiabei in the final leg to give Thailand its first track and field gold in Guangzhou. It was sweet vindication for the 27-year-old Thai after she dropped the baton in the same race at the previous Asian Games in Doha four years ago.
“We lost at the Doha Asian Games and this time we came here for a gold medal,” her 30-year-old teammate Neeranuch Klomdee said. “I have trained for 10 years. Our team trained five days every week and we worked on strength, speed and co-operation.” Unlike Lao, however, the women’s 100 champion couldn’t add a relay title to her campaign. After completing a 100-200 double, Chizato Fukushima had to settle for bronze with Japan’s 4x100 team. The 22-year-old was a distant third to Sanrat and Ye in the final stretch of the relay.
Bahrain showed its prowess in long-distance running.
The first gold of the night went to Bahrain’s Mimi Belete Gebregeiorges, who won the women’s 5,000 meters in 15 minutes and 15.59 seconds, adding to her bronze in the 1,500.
With two laps to go, the race appeared to be a duel between Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi, who led most of the race, and another Bahraini, Kareema Saleh Jasim. But the 22-year-old Gebregeiorges powered past the leading pack along with Indian runners Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut, who ended up with silver and bronze. Sreedharan earlier took gold in the women’s 10,000.
“I just killed myself to win,” the Bahraini said.
Meanwhile, her compatriot Bilisuma Shugi Gelassa surged to the lead with 30 meters to go in the men’s 10,000, with the Ethiopia native clinching gold with a time of 27:32.72.
Qatar’s Essa Ismail Rashed, formerly of Kenya, took silver.
Saudi Arabia made a successful final push for golds on Friday. Asian record holder Aboulmajeed Alhabashi took the men’s shot put with a season-best final throw of 20.57 meters and the Saudi men prevailed in the 4x400 relay in 3:02.30.
India won the women’s 4x400 by crossing in 3:29.02.
Elsewhere, world championships bronze medalist Yukifumi Murakami beat the field in the men’s javelin with a career-best throw of 83.15 meters, marking the 31-year-old Japanese veteran’s first Asiad gold after two silvers.
Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Radzivil won the women’s high jump after clearing a personal-best 1.95 meters.