KUALA LUMPUR: National women’s sprinter Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli kicked off the 2024 season on a positive note by defending her title in the women’s 100m sprint at the Kuala Lumpur All Comers Athletics Championships today.
The race, held at the Mini Stadium of the National Sports Council (MSN) in Bukit Jalil here, witnessed the 31-year-old from the Army clocking 12.01 seconds (s).
She outpaced another national sprinter representing the Malaysian Athletics Federation (KOM), Azreen Nabila Alias, who recorded 12.09s, while the bronze went to Beecity Squad athlete, Nurul Faizah Asma’ Mazlan, with a time of 12.43s.
Despite retaining her victory, Zaidatul, who won silver at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, expressed dissatisfaction as her timing this year was slower compared to last year’s edition of the championship.
“Nevertheless, I am grateful to finish despite the less than ideal timing. It’s the first competition of the year, and the target was to break the national record, but circumstances didn’t permit,“ she told reporters afterwards.
Zaidatul Husniah stated that she is determined to break the national record at the 2024 National Sports Circuit Series 3 Championship, scheduled for either April or May.
The current national record for the women’s 100m is held by former national sprinter, G. Shanti, with a time of 11.50s set in Kuala Lumpur on May 7, 1993.
In 2017, Zaidatul Husniah clocked a time of 11.36s at the ASA Speed Series 2 Championship in Bloemfontein, South Africa, which was considered to surpass Shanti’s record. However, it was not recognised by the match officials an hour later due to alleged wind assistance of 2.5 km/h.
Meanwhile, in the men’s 100m of the championship, Jonathan Nyepa dominated the podium with a time of 10.47s, leaving Muhammad Haiqal Hanafi (10.59s) and Muhammad Arsyad Md Saat (10.64s) in second and third place respectively.
Jonathan expressed satisfaction with his performance, stating that his timing was his best yet for the season, breaking the 10.5s mark from previous years.
“The competition was tough, and we challenged each other every day. Timing under 10.5s is the best, and I aimed for below 10.5s, so I’m happy with the result,“ he said. – Bernama