Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
MD NOOR Firdaus Ar-Rasyid Hj Md Idris is now officially Brunei's fastest man.
The 26-year-old set a new national record in the men's 100m event last Saturday at the Tuaran Athletics Championships.
He crossed the line with a time of 10.48 seconds in the semi-finals - breaking the previous record of 10.59s held by Fakhri Ismail set at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.
Firdaus then completed the final with a time of 10.61s to clinch the gold.
"I was shocked at that time as I couldn't believe it after I crossed the line in the 100m semis," recalled Firdaus in an interview with BruSports News.
"I asked them (organisers) to confirm it, and I even asked to double check with the wind and it was legal.
"It was unbelievable to me. I was extremely excited but I still needed to stay focus for the 100m final later in the afternoon that day," he added.
His previous personal best was 10.60s produced at the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha back in 2019.
He felt good heading into the competition was but wasn't thinking about the record.
"I was not expecting that time as I was aiming for a new season best of around 10.6s which I managed in the previous competition in Tawau, Sabah," said Firdaus.
"But I knew I was in good form after we did several time checks at the track here at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium and I had equalled my best time," he added.
When asked on what's next, Firdaus replied: "I'm aiming to improve the 200m time or at least get a new season best at the upcoming Sibu Open in Sarawak in mid November."
The Tokyo 2020 Olympian made it a double after winning the 200m event with a time of 21.8s.
He also contested in the men's 4x100m event but the team failed to complete the relay.
