Grace aiming for record fourthstraight best athlete award

PENANG: Grace Wong Xiu Mei (pic) is on the verge of creating history in the 59th National Schools Sports Council (MSSM) Track and Field Championships.

The 17-year-old Sarawakian has a strong chance of winning the girls’ best athlete award for a record fourth consecutive time in the championships, which begin today at the City Stadium.

Grace is optimistic of her chances after breaking the national women’s hammer record with a hurl of 60.99m in the Jeollanam-do Track and Field Athletics Championships in South Korea two weeks ago.

She will be competing in three events – discus, shot putt and hammer – in the Under-18 category.

Grace, a Form Four student of Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS), is especially confident of breaking her MSSM hammer record of 52.70m she set in Kuala Terengganu last year.

“I’ve not trained since returning from South Korea a week ago but I believe I can rewrite my record for the fourth consecutive year,” said Grace.

“I’m physically and mentally in good shape after the six-week training stint in South Korea. I hope to better my record by 4m-5m in the hammer.

“I’m also confident of winning golds in the discus and shot putt to win the best athlete award,” said Grace, who is still eligible to compete next year.

Sprinter Muhd Solihin Jamal of Kuala Lumpur, who won the silver in the 100m and 200m in the SouthEast Asia (SEA) Youth Championships in the Philippines last month, will start as the favourite to win both the sprint golds in the boys’ Under-18 category.

Solihin, who has a personal best of 10.68 in the 100m and 21.97 in the 200m, said that it would be a dream come true for him to win the double.

“I’ve proven myself in the SEA Youth Championships and I don’t think the other sprinters can beat me in the 100m and 200m,” said Solihin.

A total of 91 events involving three categories – Under-12, Under15 and Under-18 – will be contested in the four-day championships.