KUALA LUMPUR – Former national sprinter G. Shanti has thrown down the gauntlet to Malaysia’s current batch of women athletes to erase her 100m record of 11.50sec set 31 years ago.
The 56-year-old is concerned that the existing batch of sprinters has yet to surpass her record and feels that none of them has the potential to excel in the event anytime soon.
“I am sad, the 100m record can be broken. Zaidatul (Husniah Zulkifli) did it before but it wasn’t counted. I hope, in the future, an athlete will emerge to break it. This record has stood for too long. Based on the timings, 11.50sec can be broken,” she said recently.
In 2017, Zaidatul Husniah clocked 11.36sec at a meet in South Africa to erase Shanti’s record but it was not recognised because it was wind-assisted (+2.5m/s).
Shanti also reminded national athletes to be more disciplined and to double their efforts to excel.
“I don’t see the potential of our athletes today. I advise them to pay more attention to how they train, their discipline and training with coaches… this kind of attitude is vital and plays a role,” she said.
Shanti still holds the record as the fastest woman sprinter in Malaysia after clocking 11.50sec in the blue riband event in Kuala Lumpur on May 7, 1993. – January 9, 2024