Longdistance events reinstated for SEA Games

KUALA LUMPUR: SEA Games hosts the Philippines have been finally pressured to reinstate long distance events in the athletics competition in December.

Six athletics events – men’s and women’s 5,000 and 10,000m and men’s and women’s 20km walk events – make their return after a meeting among 10 SEA countries in Bangkok recently.

Philippines Southeast Asian Games Organising Committee (Phisgoc) dropped the six events in February and could have faced sanctions from the Asian Athletics Association (AAA).

Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) president Datuk Karim Ibrahim is happy that their relentless efforts to pressure Phisgoc has paid off.

“We wrote a letter of protest to AAA and they instructed Phisgoc to reinstate the events or they would not sanction the events.

“Phisgoc have finally agreed to it and they have asked all the SEA countries to submit the number of athletes for the six events,” said Karim.

With the inclusion of the six events, there will be a total of 93 medals at stake in athletics – 46 in men’s and 45 in women’s events.

Phisgoc have also included two mixed gender events – 4x100m and 4x400m – for the first time in the Games.

Karim added that it was good news for Malaysia as they now stood a chance to win medals in the men’s and women’s walk events.

At the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, Elena Goh Ling Yin won gold in the women’s 10,000m while Lo Choon Sieng bagged silver in the men’s 20,000m walk events respectively.