This 18-Year-Old Teen Is Officially The Fastest Malaysian!
PM Najib congratulated the 18-year-old for his amazing feat.
By John Lim — 29 Jul 2016, 12:28 PM
Khairul Hafiz just became the nation's fastest man when he smashed the 18-year national 100m record at the 18th SUKMA in Sarawak
The Melaka-born sprinter shattered the record previously held by Watson Nyambek in the finals on Wednesday, 27 July by crossing the finish line in 10.18s! Nyambek's record of 10.30s was set at the 1998 Pre-Commonwealth Games meet.
Khairul set the Sarawak Stadium ablaze when he crossed the finish line ahead of Sarawakian Jonathan Nyepi and fellow Malaccan Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap
The Melaka athlete broke clear of the field at the halfway mark to cross the finish line an undisputed champion, with Sarawak's Jonathan Nyepa edging Malacca's Badrul Hisyam Manap in a photo-finish for silver after both timed 10.36s.
The time set by Khairul was a mere 0.01s away from the SEA Games record set by Indonesian Suryo Agung Wibowo at the 2009 Laos and 0.6s from the world record famously set by Usain Bolt back in 2009
Khairul also won the 100m gold medal at the Asian Youth Championships in Vietnam last month, clocking in at 10.36s. Not forgetting how he famously outran a Jamaican in the semi-finals of the World Junior Championships.
After his amazing feat at the 100m event, he proceeded to break the men's 200m SUKMA record with a time of 21.14 seconds during the heats. This kid can really run!
He erased the previous record of 21.33, which was set by Nazmizan Mohamed in Sabah 2002.
His impressive accolades at the games were received with praises by many, including Prime Minister Najib Razak
He uploaded a newspaper cutting bearing a photo of Khairul crossing the finish line with the caption "Congratulations to the country's new sprint king! Khairul Hafiz Jantan holds the new national record, 10.18 seconds!"
