(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-07-30 09:00

AMMAN - The 17th Asian Athletics Championships ended Sunday at the Jordanian capital of Amman with China ranking first at the medal standings both in terms of gold medals and total number of medals.

Chinese athletes grabbed seven golds, five silvers and four bronzes during the five-day event, while Gulf country Qatar ranked equally first with China with a total of 16 medals, including four golds.

India wrapped up five golds, five silvers and five bronzes. Saudi Arabia is another major winner of the Asian championships, winning five golds, while Japan grabbed four golds, five slivers and four bronzes.

Because of the unrest in Lebanon where the event was originally scheduled to be held, the Asian championship was transferred to Jordan.

A lot of first-class athletes in Asia didn't show up at the event due to conflicting schedule, with most of them preparing for the upcoming world athletics championships which was slated to be held in Japan next month.

During the five-day event, Qatar's Samuel A. Francis won men's 100 meters race on July 26 with 9.99 seconds, breaking the Asian record which was set by Japanese athlete Koji Ito in 1998.

The next Asian Athletics Championships will be held in China in 2009.