SEA Games 2025: After sub-10sec in heats, Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson wins 100m
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Thailand's Puripol Boonson in action during the men's 100m heats of the SEA Games.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Puripol Boonson, a 19-year-old from Thailand, became the first South-east Asian to run the 100m sprint in under 10 seconds, clocking 9.94 seconds.
- Overcoming pre-race injury anxieties, Puripol won gold in the 100m final with 10 seconds, dedicating his victory to his mother's support and his new coach.
- Shanti Pereira from Singapore won gold in the women's 100m with 11.36 seconds, while Thailand leads the athletics medal tally with four golds.
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BANGKOK – There is a new sprint star in town and his name is Puripol Boonson.
Born in Surin province in Isan, the 19-year-old hails from a country known for producing some of South-east Asia’s quickest runners, including 1970s star Suchart Jairsuraparp and six-gold SEA Games champion Jirapong Meenapra.
Puripol is at the top of the pack now, after achieving what no sprinter in the region has achieved. On Dec 11, the teenager became the first man from South-east Asia to go under 10 seconds in the 100m sprint.
In the heats at the Suphachalasai National Stadium, he clocked 9.94 seconds to better the SEA Games record of 10.17sec posted by Indonesia’s Suryo Agung Wibowo in 2009.
His timing also surpassed the fastest time by a South-east Asian runner, which was the 10.03sec clocked by Indonesia’s Lalu Zohri in 2019.
Two hours later, he followed it up with a gold-medal winning dash of 10sec in the blue-riband event to finish ahead of Lalu (10.25) and Malaysia’s Danish Iftikhar Roslee (10.26).
Amid the cheers from the home crowd, the fastest man in South-east Asia was swarmed by over 20 journalists at the mixed zone.
Speaking through an interpreter, Puripol was in tears as he talked about how his mother’s support motivated him. He said: “I feel very happy because in the semi-finals I could break the record and go under 10 seconds.
“I want to say I’m very proud of this gold medal and I have practised for so long, and even brought a coach from another country to train me.
“The new coach joined us three to four months ago and added more weight training to make me stronger and I worked hard and made sure that I come back from injury to compete tonight.”
It was at the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam where Puripol first made headlines by winning the triple gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, before following up with a 100m silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, and another silver at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships.
But he could not defend his titles in the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia owing to injury.
Thai national sprinter Puripol Boonson's mum, Supawadee Makkaphon, wiping away his tears after her son won the men's 100m final.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Puripol, who is also gunning for a hat-trick this time, added: “At first I was nervous and afraid that my injury would stop me from competing at these SEA Games, but I did and just wanted to do my best to get a gold medal.
“Before the final, I felt pressure and was anxious and that’s why I couldn’t go below 10 seconds again, but I’m just happy with the gold medal and winning the SEA Games.”
Singapore’s Marc Louis, who won a silver in 2023, finished fourth in 10.32sec.
In the women’s 100m, Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira retained her gold by clocking 11.36sec to emerge victorious ahead of Thailand’s Khanonta Jirapat (11.54) and Ha Thi Thu (11.58) of Vietnam.
The first day of the athletics competition at the Suphachalasai National Stadium saw the hosts winning four golds, two silvers and one bronze to top the medal tally in track and field.
