KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 — National sprinter Jonathan Nyepa is edging closer to breaking the national 200-metre record after setting a personal best of 20.92 seconds en route to finishing second at the Torrin Lawrence Memorial in Athens, Georgia, in the United States on Friday.
The 23-year-old Sarawakian’s time is just 0.15 of a second behind Russel Alexander Nasir Taib’s national mark of 20.77s set at the Queensland Track Classic in Brisbane, Australia, last month.
Jonathan, who is undergoing an eight-month training stint in the United States from February, finished behind Elija Godwin of Georgia (20.59s), while Maurice Simpson of Georgia Tech was third (21.04s).
Jonathan’s previous personal best of 21.10s was set at the Malaysian Open in May last year.
Jonathan’s latest effort sees him equal the 20.92s set by former Olympian Tan Sri Dr M. Jegathesan at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
Jegathesan’s time remained intact for nearly five decades (49 years) until Khairul Hafiz Jantan erased it two years ago.
Khairul Hafiz, who broke Jegathesan’s record when he clocked 20.90s at the 2017 Malaysian Open, remains the second fastest Malaysian 200m runner. — Bernama
