KUALA LUMPUR: Young national sprinter Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi’s dream of a podium finish at the Under-20 (U-20) World Athletics Championships in Cali, Colombia did not materialise after finishing the final of the men’s 100 metres (m) in fifth place this morning Malaysian time.
Muhammad Azeem, 18, who broke the national record with a time of 10.09 seconds (s) in the preliminary round yesterday, did not manage to do better as he only clocked 10.14s in the blue riband event at the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium.
Botswana’s 19-year-old Letsile Tebogo topped the race in style after clocking 9.91s to break USA’s Trayvon Bromell’s U-20 world record set in 2014 as well as his own championship record set in the preliminary round.
Tebogo’s run saw him cross the finish line comfortably leaving nearest challenger Bouwahjgie Nkrumie of Jamaica who clocked 10.02s in second place while South Africa’s Benjamin Richardson was third with a time of 10.12s.
Sixteen-year-old Puripol Boonson from Thailand, the 100m and 200m gold medallist of the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, had to settle for fourth place despite having the same time as Richardson.
Earlier, Muhammad Azeem managed to achieve his main goal in Cali, which was to advance to the final after finishing the third semi-final heat in second place in 10.19s.
The Perak-born athlete has the opportunity to make up for his disappointment in creating a surprise and making his own history when he competes in the 200m which is scheduled to start early tomorrow morning.
He has a personal best time of 20.89s, the second fastest time in the history of the country’s 200m event behind the national record of 20.77s held by Russel Alexander Nasir Taib in 2019.
Another young national athlete, Elvin Yap, faltered in the semi-finals of the men’s 110m hurdles after finishing heat three in last place with a time of 14.92s.
Jonah Chang who was scheduled to perform in the men’s shot put final did not make throws, according to the results released on the championship website.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Shah Sholihin is scheduled to compete in the men’s triple jump on Aug 4 (Aug 5 in Malaysia). – Bernama