PETALING JAYA: It is agony for sprinter Mohd Azeem Fahmi but joy for Thailand Puripol Boonson in the men's 100m final at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium
In the race on Friday (Sept 25), Azeem, who won bronze at Hangzhou 2022, appeared to be in pain and began slowing down just seconds after the race.
But Thailand’s Puripol Boonson lived up to expectations by taking gold in 9.90s and breaking the Games record for the second time in a matter of hours.
The Thai had only hours earlier lowered the Games record to 9.91s in the semi-finals.
Oman also had two reasons to celebrate as Ali Balushi took silver in 10.04s, while Malham Balushi claimed bronze in 10.11s.
It was a painful end for Azeem, who still managed to finish the race in 14.65s and placed last before collapsing on the track in pain and being stretchered away by the medical team.
Meanwhile, China’s 17-year-old Chen Yujie pulled off a surprise in the women’s 100m final by winning gold in 11.06s.
Her time was even more impressive as it broke the Games record of 11.15sec set by Sri Lanka’s Susanthika Jayasinghe at Busan 2002.
Singapore sprint star Veronica Shanti Pereira took silver in 11.21s, matching the colour of the medal she won at Hangzhou 2022, while Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong claimed bronze in 11.33s.
It was also a disappointing outing for national 400m runners Umar Osman and Shereen Samson Vallabouy as both saw their campaigns end in the first round.
Umar, running from lane seven in the second heat, started well but was unable to match the pace of the frontrunners and finished sixth in 46.91s.
Shereen also missed out on a place in the women’s 400m finals despite making a strong start in the third heat.
The Hangzhou 2022 bronze medallist moved into the lead from lane seven but was overtaken by three runners over the final 100m before finishing fourth in 54.03s.
