KUALA LUMPUR – Sprinter Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi broke the national 100m record with 10.09 seconds (s) at the Under-20 World Athletics Championships at the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium in Cali, Colombia, early today (Malaysia time).
The 18-year-old runner erased the old record of 10.18s set by former Southeast Asian sprint champion Khairul Hafiz Jantan at the 2016 Malaysian Games in Kuching, Sarawak.
Azeem’s record of 10.09s in heat eight saw him emerging the first runner to cross the finishing line, surprising 19-year-old Japanese athlete Hiroki Yanagita, who finished second with a time of 10.24s.
Azeem and Yanagita each secured their spot in the semi-finals scheduled to take place tomorrow.
Meanwhile, only 19-year-old Botswana Letsile Tebogo, who ran in heat three, recorded a faster time than Azeem after breaking the championship record with a time of 10s.
Meanwhile, the 100m and 200m gold medallist at the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, Puripol Boonson from Thailand, won in heat six with a time of 10.20s to confirm his place in the semi-finals.
Azeem is fielded in the U-20 World Athletics Championships as the fourth fastest youth in Asia in 100m and 200m events based on his records until last July.
Based on the records of the 2022 season, Yanagita is the fastest with a time of 10.16s, followed by Boonson (10.19s), Wang Shuang of China (10.23s) and Azeem, in the fourth place, with a record of 10.28s, which was recorded at the Perak All-Comers Athletics Championship last June.
In the 200m event, Booson was the fastest after clocking 20.19s, followed by South Korea’s 19-year-old Son Ji-won (20.80s), 19-year-old Yan Haibin of China (20.88s), and Azeem logging 20.89s, which was recorded at the Sarawak Junior Athletics Championships in Kuching last month.
Azeem will also take part in the 200m event in Cali scheduled to start on Thursday (August 4 in Malaysia).
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu praised Azeem on his success.
“An incredible achievement from Colombian soil!!! Continue the momentum of this success, Azeem,” he said in a tweet on Twitter. – Bernama, August 2, 2022
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