Bahrain claimed the gold medal in the mixed 4x400m relay in their Asian Games debut, while China ranked fourth on Tuesday.

The eight teams in Jakarta tried out a range of combinations and strategies with two men and two women on each team running in whichever order they thought worked best. 

Athletes declared the game a fun – if chaotic – and successfully amused the crowd as onlookers struggled to figure out who was winning.

"First you feel like it's difficult because how can you run with girls?" said Abbas Abbas of Bahrain. "But it's very nice especially when you trust your team."

And Abbas' teammate Ali Khamis said "We had two amazing girls. Very fast. Very strong. Like men. We ran with four men!"

At the same time, China's Yang Lei described the event as "chaos" after a gridlock emerged at the final baton handover, while Japan's Eri Utsunomiya – giggling at the confusion – said it was "Fun... just fun."

A similar type of mixed relay event will make its global debut at the world championships in Doha next year before being at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, in an attempt to freshen up the sport, and boost participation.

(With input from AFP)