‘Hard work, confidence and prayers’

KUALA LUMPUR: Two things were racing through Khairul Hafiz Jantan’s mind when he got into position at the starting block of the men’s 200m final in the Malaysian Open Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

One was the fear of being disqualified for a false start and the other was the voice of his doubters.

His fear of disqualification was understandable – it happened to him in the 100m final of the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar, India, just two weeks earlier.

The Speedy Jantan, as he has been dubbed, was all fired up to create history in the Asian meet after clocking the fastest time of 10.24 seconds in the semi-finals.

Khairul explained that it was the Qatar athlete next to him who moved before the starting shot was fired but “I was asked to leave the track for a false start”.

“I was victimised. I was very annoyed because I was robbed of a chance to run in the final,” he said.

“It took me a few days to get over it.

“The incident was also a lesson for me to be extra careful at the starting block.”

Then there were the doubters.

“Some told me that I would not be able to break the 200m record – the country’s oldest track record – because I had never dipped below 21 seconds in a competition and also because they felt I was still too young,” said Khairul.

“But I knew myself and I knew I could do it. So, instead of letting those two factors get me down, I just focused on running as fast as I could to prove them wrong.

“Of course, the perfect start helped too.”

In the end, not only did he win the 200m gold on Tuesday, he also blitzed the 49-year-old record of 20.92s set by Tan Sri Dr M. Jegathesan at the 1968 Mexico Olympics when he clocked 20.90s.

Just a few days before Khairul’s feat, Jegathesan, 73, had challenged Malaysian athletes to break his record at next month’s SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

“Seeing the record broken will be a dream come true,” he told Bernama last week.

On his part, Khairul was happy to prove his doubters wrong: “I now have both the 100m and 200m national records. No one can deny my capabilities anymore.

“I was in tears and I couldn’t control my emotions at the finish line because of what went through my mind seconds earlier at the starting block,” he said.

So, what’s the secret to his record-breaking feat?

“The ability to run a good bend at maximum speed helps and that was what I worked on.

“That’s the reason I managed to break Dr Jega’s 49-year-old mark,” said Khairul, whose previous best was 21.01s set at the Asian Junior Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, en route to winning the 200m silver medal in June last year.

Khairul said that besides hard work, “daily prayers also help me get the strength and confidence to compete in races”.

“Prayers help me to calm myself before a race,” said Khairul, who will come under the observation of the National Sports Institute (NSI) in Bukit Jalil as he prepares for the SEA Games.

So, are there any other aspects for Khairul to work on before KL 2017?

“Khairul needs to build his leg strength and power if he hopes to clock better times in both sprints,” said his coach Mohd Poad Mohd Kassim.

“He also needs to work on his mental strength with the help of NSI officials.

“If he can do that, I’m confident he can break (his own) national records in both sprint events at the SEA Games.”