SINGAPORE: Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson made history on Thursday (Dec 11) as he became the first Southeast Asian man to break the 10-second barrier during a 100m heat at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
At the Suphachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok, Puripol, 19, easily qualified for the 100m finals with a time of 9.94s. Singapore sprinter Marc Brian Louis also qualified for the finals, finishing in 10.38s.
Louis missed out on a medal in the finals, placing fourth with a time of 10.32s.
Puripol later repeated his feat in the final, clocking 9.99s to win the gold.
His previous best 100m time was 10.06s, recorded during the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where he won the silver medal.
He overtakes Indonesia’s Lalu Muhammad Zohri as the fastest Southeast Asian sprinter. Zohri ran 10.03s in the 2019 Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Osaka.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sports/thailand-puripol-boonson-sprinter-100m-10s-5576211
