Zar, Janjua win gold in Special Olympics World Games

Pakistan’s special Olympic swimmers secure first position in 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke respectively

LOS ANGELES: Pakistan’s special Olympic swimmer Asim Zar won a gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle event at the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Read: Zar wins gold in Special Olympics World Games

Zar finished first in division 14 in two minutes 29 seconds, while Mazhar Mehmood finished fifth in division 10 in the same event with a time of 01:24.71.

Read: Special Olympics contingent off to LA


On the other hand, Pakistan’s Aqsa Ahmed Janjua secured a gold in 50m women's backstroke and a silver by finishing second in the 50m women’s freestyle.

Aqsa Ahmed Janjua wins a Gold Medal in Aquatics for the 50 metre backstroke. PHOTO COURTESY: SPECIAL OLYMPICS PAKISTAN.

In cycling, Mehmoona Hussain finished second in division 3 of the 500m time trial race behind India’s Meera Kumari. Khadija Irfan also finished second in division 5 of the same category to win silver.

Salman Siddiqui won bronze for the men’s squad of Pakistan by finishing third in division 10 of the 500m time trial race.

Meanwhile, special Olympian Muhammad Usman scored 12 points to help Pakistan’s basketball team defeat Portugal 23-10.