NAGOYA – National sprinter Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi refuses to be distracted by the 9.95 seconds (s) clocked by his main challenger from Thailand, Puripol Boonson, choosing instead to focus on his own race at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
The 22-year-old finished as the fastest runner in heat five of the men’s 100 metres (m) event, clocking 10.17s to advance to the semi-finals scheduled for tomorrow at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.
Muhammad Azeem described his run as a good start but noted there is still room for improvement in the semi-finals.
“It was quite a good race. There is nothing to worry about today as the goal was to execute the race well, advance to the semi-finals, and return tomorrow to do better.
“I just want to run my own race and not think about what the other runners are doing,” he said.
Puripol was the only sprinter to clock a sub-10s time to win heat one and emerge as one of the fastest qualifiers for the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, another national runner, Muhammad Umaira Subri, also advanced to the semi-finals despite finishing fourth in heat one with a time of 10.43s.
He qualified for the semi-finals by securing one of the six slots for fastest times outside of those who qualified automatically. – September 25, 2026