Athletics : No Medals But Mohd Raduan Renews Asean Para Games And National Records

BEIJING, Sept 9 (Bernama) -- National sprinter Mohd Raduan Emeari may not have finished among the medal winners in the Beijing Paralympics, but he can still walk tall, especially after smashing the Asean Para Games and National records in the 100m T36 (cerebral palsy) sprint final at the Birds Nest stadium here Tuesday.

Mohd Raduan, 26, who had just returned to competitions last month after recovering from an injury, clocked 12.64s (old record 12.69s) to finish seventh in a race that saw Ukraine's Roman Pavlyk blaze to a new Paralympics record en route to winning the gold in a time of 12.25s.

Apart from Pavlyk, the old record of 12.49s set by Ukraine's Andrey Zhyltsov in Athens four years ago, was also bettered by silver and bronze medal winners, Ben Rushgrove of Great Britain (12.35s) and So Wa Wai of Hongkong (12.38s).

"I had clocked 12.40s in training after arriving in Beijing but today I was a little tense during the final but I'm happy to have set two new records (Asean Para Games and National).

"Competition was tough, especially with the presence of world class runners from Ukraine, Great Britain, Hong Kong, China and Poland," said Mohd Raduan, winner of the sprint gold and holder of the Asean Para Games 100m T36 record that he set in Korat, Thailand early this year.

His coach R. Jeganathan said though Mohd Raduan was making his debut in the Paralympics, his spirited performance and record setting pace today were commendable.

"He had a good start but was probably overcome by jitters towards the finishing line. Our target for him here was to at least better the national mark and he managed to achieve that target.

"An injury to his heel had disrupted his initial preparations and he only started serious training last month. Considering all these facts, I am happy with his performance," said Jeganathan.

He added that the exposure to such high level competitions here would certainly do a world of good for Mohd Raduan and all the other athletes who are representing the country.

"Athletes, especially the disabled, need more of such competitions as they can learn a great deal after watching world class athletes in action," he said.

-- BERNAMA