African-born athletes reshaping Asian Games track and field medals

African athletes who switched their nationalities are dominating track and field events at the Asian Games, posing a major challenge to Indian runners in middle and long-distance races. In events like the women's 10,000 metres, men's 10,000 metres, and mixed 4x400 metres relay, these athletes stormed to the podium and pipped Indians to the gold medal.

The Impact On India

For India, this trend is a serious hurdle because middle-distance and long-distance running is traditionally the country's strongest suit, forcing Indian athletes to work much harder just to finish on the podium. In the men's 10,000 metres, India's Gulveer Singh led throughout the race and looked set to win until Ethiopia-born Birhanu Balew of Bahrain used a powerful final kick to finish 1.87 seconds ahead and take the gold. This shift also heavily alters all-time records. In the men's 5,000 metres, eight of the top ten athletes in Asian history are now African-born runners, with native Asians making up only two spots. A similar pattern appears in the women's 3,000 metres steeplechase, where Parul Chaudhary is the sole native Asian in the top five list, while the other four spots belong to athletes who switched to Bahrain and Kazakhstan. Indian sprinters have also lost medals to switched-nationality athletes, such as when Dutee Chand and Hima Das missed out against Nigeria-born sprinters Edidong Odiong and Salwa Naser.

History And Money

Gulf countries like Qatar and Bahrain, along with nations like Kazakhstan, have benefited the most by recruiting talent from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Sudan. Qatar first started this practice when Somalia-born Mohamed Suleiman won an Olympic medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games. The trend grew significantly at the 2006 Doha Asian Games and peaked between 2012 and 2016. Wealthy Gulf nations often negotiate directly with the families of these athletes to provide financial support, lifestyle upgrades, and top-tier training opportunities. Birhanu Balew acknowledged that his life changed after competing for Bahrain, noting that he now drives a Corolla, owns a new home, and splits his time training in Ethiopia.

Rules And Future

These massive financial transfers previously prompted World Athletics to freeze the transfer of allegiance from February 2017 to July 2018. The practice resumed only after stricter reforms were introduced, which included a three-year waiting period and an age limit of 20 years. Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, an IAAF Council representative, strongly criticized the system as a wholesale market for talent open to the highest bidder. Even under current laws, World Athletics recently blocked moves involving multiple athletes transferring to Turkiye due to coordinated government recruitment strategies. While the debate over fairness continues, native Asian athletes must now contend with this new reality at every level of competition.