Khairul Hafiz shatters national 100m record at Sukma

Melaka's Khairul Hafiz Jantan poses with the unofficial scoreboard after winning the the men's 100m final at the Sukma Games in Kuching, Sarawak, July 27, 2016. He broke the national record with the official time of 10.18. GLENN GUAN/The Star

KUCHING: Sprinter Khairul Hafiz Jantan could not have asked for a better stage to break the 18-year-old men’s national 100m record.

The 18-year-old from Malacca blazed the track in 10.18 seconds to clinch the gold medal in the Sukma blue riband event at the Sarawak Stadium in Petra Jaya on Wednesday.

His effort erased Sarawakian Watson Nyambek’s previous mark of 10.30, which was set during the 1998 pre-Commonwealth Games at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Khairul’s time not only eclipsed the Sukma record of 10.33 set by Watson as well in Kuantan in 1996, but is also just 0.01 off the SEA Games mark of 10.17 set by Indonesia’s Suryo Agung Wibowo in Laos in 2009.

What makes Khairul’s feat all the more memorable is that he blitzed the record on Watson’s home ground.

Sarawak’s Jonathan Nyepa and Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap of Malacca clocked the same time of 10.36, but Jonathan was awarded the silver.

Khairul shed tears of joy after breaking the national record.

“I didn’t expect to clock such a fantastic time. I’m still surprised with my time,” said Khairul, who is pursuing pre-university studies at the Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) in Johor.

Khairul admitted that he could not have clocked such a fast time if not for team-mate Badrul.

“He challenged me to win the gold and I accepted his challenge. I must thank him for pushing me in the final,” said Khairul, who clocked 10.44 to finish first in the heats.

“I’ve been targeting the national record since achieving my personal best of 10.36 on the way to winning the Asian junior meet gold (in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, last month).

“I’m also happy to have broken Watson’s record in his home state. This is the best moment of my life since I started running in competitions five years ago,” said Khairul, whose father, Jantan Ramli, was at the stadium to cheer him on.

Khairul with Watson (centre) at the Sarawak Stadium after winning the men's 100m event.

Khairul hugged his father and also thanked his coach Mohd Poad Mohd Kassim and Malacca for giving him all the support he needed to break the national record.

Khairul featured in the World Junior Championships in Poland last week and clocked 10.44 to finish second in the third heat.

In the semi-finals, he clocked a slow time of 10.58 to finish eighth and last.

Khairul, who arrived home from Poland last Saturday, admitted that he did not push himself hard at the World Juniors as “I wanted to focus on Sukma”.

“I’ve lived up to my tag as the country’s number one sprinter and also the youngest sprinter to break the national record,” said Khairul, who arrived in Kuching last Sunday.

He also thanked the Sukma organisers for postponing the 100m event from the first day of the athletics competition on Tuesday to Wednesday so that he could recover from jet-lag and take part.

Coach Poad was not surprised to see Khairul break the national record as “he has been clocking good times in training”.

“The one-week training stint in Frankfurt, Germany, prior to the World Juniors in Poland also helped him physically to clock a good time.

“I’ve been training him for the last three years ... he is such a dedicated and motivated athlete, who is hungry for medals and records,” said Poad.