Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
NATIONAL sprinter Md Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid Hj Mohdd Idris put up a strong effort at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in London on Monday (early Tuesday morning Brunei time).
Firdaus clocked a time of 22.36 seconds to finish at the end of Heat 7 at the London Stadium.
The Bruneian got off to a good start but couldn’t keep up the pace in the final quarter of the race.
“I did my best reaction so far… great start and there were no problems for the first 150m,” said Firdaus in an interview with BruSports News yesterday.
“But then my speed started fading away for the last 50m… My body went numb and as if I couldn’t swing and run no more.
“It was a struggle to reach the finish line but I was just hoping for a good result,” he added.
When asked on how he adapted with the cold weather conditions, Firdaus replied: “The weather was okay. I was really confident that I can adapt to the cold before entering the arena.
“But suddenly when I entered the stadium, my body began shaking and it got really cold and I couldn’t do anything about it,” he added.
Regardless of the result, Firdaus is taking the positives out of the competition.
“With the stadium full with people cheering and being surrounded by great athletes made me feel motivated warming up beside them,” said the 21-year-old, who holds the national record of 21.64s set at the Malaysian Open in October last year.
“I gained some knowledge from them and I will need to apply them like the drills, the warmup, the focus and so on,” he added.
Next on the calendar for Firdaus will be the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur where he will once again compete in the men’s 200m event a well as the 4x100m event.
“I need to improve on my timing for the SEA Games. I’m aiming for my best time individually as well as in the relay,” he concluded.
