Siti Fatimah sprints to new national record in Iran tourney

KUALA LUMPUR: Sprinter Siti Fatimah Mohamad posted a personal best to break the national women’s 60m event at the Iran International Indoor Athletic Championships in Teheran.

Her silver-medal effort of 7.56 erased the previous mark of 7.61 set by Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli at the Asian Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar in 2016.

Iraq’s Danah Al-Khafaji crossed the finish line in 7.50 to win the gold while another Malaysian S. Komalam Shally did 7.63 to bag the bronze.

Siti, who is a lance corporal with the Malaysian army, was thrilled to bits.

“It’s a dream come true to break the record and I’m definitely on the right track to qualify for the 100m in the Philippines SEA Games in December,” said Siti.

“I’m looking forward to my fourth Games,” said Siti, whose previous best was 7.63.

Last month, Siti competed in the 100m at the Perak All-Comers Championships in Ipoh and clocked 11.99 to finish second behind Zaidatul Husniah, who posted a season best of 11.65 to qualify for the Games.

The qualifying mark for the 100m is 11.74.

Although Siti will turn 33 this month she believes she can still compete for another two to three years.

Siti has won two SEA Games bronze medals in the 4x100m in Korat (2007) and Singapore (2015).