PETALING JAYA: “Iron Man” Hanapiah Nasir (pic), considered Malaysia’s best decathlete and top all-rounder in athletics, passed away yesterday due to illness. He was 65.
A well respected figure in the athletics circle, Hanapiah won the decathlon, the most gruelling event in the sport, in Manila 1981 and in Singapore 1983 where his total of 6,698 points was the SEA Games record in that edition.
Hanapiah did not restrict himself to decathlon as he was also a quality long jumper and excelled in the 110m hurdles, and competed in these two events at the SEA Games level.
The Bangkok 1985 SEA Games was a special occasion for Hanapiah where he demonstrated his versatility by winning the long jump with 7.59m, a Games record then, and the men’s 110m hurdles gold (14.65s).
He also proved how valuable he was to the Malaysian athletics team by helping the men’s 4x100m quartet win a silver medal in 1985.
A protege of former decathlete and chief coach (the late) J.V. Jayan, Hanapiah had also served as a coach and guided Malik Tobias in the discipline from 2005-2006.
Hanapiah was also the national chief coach from 2005 to 2008.
He was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2012 but the strong-willed coach battled the disease and was said to have completely recovered in 2019.
Malik, who had remained close with Hanapiah, said his passing was a shock and great loss to the athletics community.
“It’s a shock to me and also the athletics family. He was one of our jewels in athletics and his passing would be a great loss to the sport,” said Malik.
“I became very close to him when I trained under him for two years before I retired from the international stage in 2006 and I learnt a lot from him.
“He had some illness and but was back to good health in 2019. I’m still in disbelief that he is gone.
“He has done a lot for the athletes and personally, I’ve lost a mentor.”
