KUALA LUMPUR: “Congratulations to the country’s new sprint king!” Najib Razak told Khairul Hafiz Jantan, who set a new time for the 100-metre dash at the 18th Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Sarawak yesterday.
“Khairul Hafiz Jantan holds the new national record, 10.18 seconds!” the Prime Minister posted on his Facebook and Twitter accounts today.
Najib also uploaded a newspaper cutting bearing a photograph of Khairul Hafiz taken after he crossed the finish line at the Sarawak Stadium in Kuching.
The feat by Khairul Hafiz, 18, of Malacca erased the old record of 10.30 seconds set by Watson Nyambek of Sarawak in the pre-Commonwealth Games at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil in 1998.
In the event yesterday, Jonathan Nyepa of Sarawak took the silver medal with a time of 10.36s while Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap of Malacca won the bronze, also in 10.36s.
-BERNAMA