U18 world record holder Puripol snatches 100m gold at Asian Youth Athletics
Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson won the 100 metres gold medal at the Asian Youth Athletics Championships on Friday in Kuwait.
Puripol, 16, exploded out of the blocks to easily outpace his rivals and cross the finish line in a time of 10.33 seconds. Taiwan’s Po-jui Lee took the silver with a run of 10.73s while South Korea’s Nwamadi Joeljin grabbed bronze with 10.77s.
Puripol smashed the under-18 world record for the 100 metres with a time of 10.09 seconds in the semi-finals of this year’s World Athletics U20 championships in Cali, Colombia on August 2. His injury two days later in the 4x100m relay meant the Thai team finished the preliminary round in fourth and failed to qualify for the final.
Thailand scored more success in Kuwait when Athicha Phetkun ran 12.01s in the women’s 100 metres to snatch the silver in a race won by Indonesia’s Valentin Vanesa Lonteng in 11.69s.
Fellow Thai Piyapat Pongsapan also won silver in the women's 1,500 metres, timing 4:58.82s for second place on the podium behind Nguyen Khanh Linh of Vietnam in 4:51.61s.
