Mueed Baloch wins silver in 200m race in World Cadet Games

KARACHI: Pakistan's star athlete Abdul Mueed Baloch has won a silver medal only two days after bagging gold medal in a race event in the ongoing sports event — the World Cadet Games — in Venezuela on Thursday.

Representing the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the military games, the 23-year-old sprinter secured the medal in the 200-metre race, completing the distance in 21.72 seconds.

The gold medal of the event was grabbed by a Venezuelan athlete who reached the finish line in 21.69 seconds.

Baloch earlier this week won a gold medal in the 400-metre race by covering the distance in 48.20 seconds.

Hailing from Karachi's Shanti Nagar, Baloch is a national champion in both the 200-metre and 400-metre categories.

Baloch, who was named the fastest athlete after winning the 100-metre race at the 2018 Asian Junior Athletics Championship, has represented Pakistan in multiple international events, bringing home numerous victories.

He also holds Pakistan's national record in the 400-metre race with a timing of 46.73 seconds.

In 2015, Baloch, a passionate footballer then, came on the track for the first time in his cleats at the National Coaching Centre. Baloch clocked 12.50 seconds in the Aman Tech 100m sprint in February 2015 — his first stint at a competition.

Inaugurated on August 17, the fourth International Military Sports Council (CISM) World Cadet Games are underway at the Fuerte Tiuna military base in Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

The cadets’ games, first initiated in 2010, are an important comprehensive event under the framework of the CISM.