At Supachalasai Stadium on the evening of December 11, Southeast Asia Athletics witnessed a historic milestone when Puripol Boonson (Thailand) created a miracle in the men's 100m distance.
In the qualifying round, the "athletics god" of Thailand surprised everyone when they completed the competition with a time of 9.94 seconds. This is the first time in the history of the region that an athlete has achieved less than 10 seconds on this prestigious race course.
This achievement not only far exceeded his personal record, but also broke the 10.17 second SEA Games record set by Indonesian legend Suryo Agung Wibowo in 2009.
The 9.94-second mark made Puripol the first Thai athlete to reach the standard in less than 10 seconds, opening a new step forward for athletics in an area that is still modest compared to the continent and the world.
Although it cannot compete with Su Bingtian's Asian record of 9.83 seconds or Usain Bolt's 9.58 second miracle, Puripol's performance is still considered a breakthrough milestone.
Not stopping there, Puripol continued to show stability when finishing first with a time of 9.99 seconds, thereby bringing home the second SEA Games gold medal in their career, after winning the championship in 2022.
With the above two parameters, Puripol has brought great pride to Southeast Asian sports. From this achievement, many experts believe that the region has a new symbol of speed.
