Malaysia’s sprinter Khairul Hafiz Jantan is making all the necessary preparations to outdo his own record at the upcoming 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.
The 19-year old, also known as “the flying youth”, currently holds the national record for the 100m outdoor sprint with his registered time of 10.18 seconds. Khairul Hafiz broke Watson Nyambek’s 18-year record of 10.30 seconds to get himself in the history books, a feat he accomplished after bagging gold at the Malaysian Games (SUKMA) in Sarawak in July 2016.
One of the fastest sprinters in Asia, Khairul Hafiz also won gold at the 2016 Asian Junior Athletics Championship in the 100m category. He bagged silver at the 200 m event and the 4X100 relay.
The Malacca-born sprinter will now head to South Africa for 2 months to enhance his training and help him prepare for the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games. He is expected to return on the 24th of April.
As of now, his coach his happy with his performance and progress, and also thinks he is fit enough to break his own record.
“ISN (National Sports Institute) just ran a test at the SSTMI (Sekolah Sukan Tunku Mahkota Ismail), and based on the test results, we’re assured that Khairul Hafiz is fit and perfectly capable of breaking his record.” Khairul Hafiz’s coach, Mohd Poad Kassim told Kosmo.
“In fact, our new target is 10.1 seconds.” he added. “But I don’t want Khairul Hafiz to get too carried away with breaking the record. I want him to focus and perform at his best at the 2017 SEA Games. It’s important that he doesn’t overstrain and injure himself.”
The 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games will be held from the 19th of August until 31st of August.
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