800m a must-watch for 1989 race winner Samson Vallabouy
On Aug 23, Samson Vallabouy will be at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil to watch the men’s 800m final in the SEA Games.
It will be the sixth time he is back as a spectator in the biennial games since hanging up his running shoes in 1991.
The former Malaysian middle distance star stormed to the gold in a record setting 1:48.29s in front of the home crowd at Merdeka Stadium in the 1989 SEA Games, A generation later, his performance continues to defy a long string of challengers, it remains the longest surviving men’s track record in the Games.
”I have been to five SEA Games since I retired after the 1991 SEA Games but have yet to witness the record broken.
“I will be in the stadium again on August 23.
“With the new track, the chances are there, otherwise, I’ll need to wait another two years and the record will be 30 years old by then,” he told Bernama.
None of the current crop of runners including defending champion Duong Van Thai of Vietnam has come close to breaking the 1: 49s barrier.
Duong has a personal best of 1: 49.23s and close Filipino rival Marco Vilog has clocked1: 50.89s.
Malaysian young pair Royson Vincent and Asif Rahman have bests of 1: 51.24s and 1: 51.69s respectively returned in last month’s Malaysian Open.
Samson, now 51 and married to former national Josephine Mary, remembers vividly the day he forced record holder and twotimes Olympian, Isidro del Prado of the Philippines to the silver while teammate R.Haridas took the bronze for Malaysia.
He had undergone a three-month stint in Australia and returned to continue training in Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
“The whole stadium was cheering for me. I knew Isidro was very strong, he was the record holder. But I was very confident that I could do well. I just ran, finished first and it was a record,” he recalled.
Samson, who has three SEA Games gold medals, was the country’s best 800m runner after B. Rajkumar who still holds the national record of 1: 47.37s set during the 1985 Jakarta Asian Championships.
Samson and Josephine, who is also a national coach and five-time SEA Games gold medalist, have a home in Ipoh and they will be rooting for their younger daughter Shereen who is representing Malaysia in the women’s 4x400m relay after withdrawing from her pet 400m event because she is recovering from a hamstring injury.
“I wish to see Shereen achieve big in next year’s Gold Coast Commonwea lth Games i n Australia and also in the Jakarta Asian Games. Josephine and I have conquered the SEA Games, we want the next generation to go beyond that,” said Samson. — Bernama