National Athlete Muhammad Azeem Fahmi Rewrites History at World Youth Athletics Championships

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By Michelle Liew

“This is just the beginning, introducing myself to the world, let’s move forward! 200m tomorrow!”

Those were the words recorded by the country’s young athlete, Muhammad Azeem Fahmi, via his Twitter page this morning after he successfully won fifth place at the World Youth Athletics Championships in Cali, Colombia.

Azeem, who clocked 10.14 seconds (s) in the 100 meters (m) final event, which took place at the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium, said the achievement was a source of pride. He improved his previous clocked time of 10.19s.

In the same upload on Twitter, Azeem said: “5th in the world, Thank you Malaysia!”

Botswana athlete, Letsile Tebogo emerged champion with a record of 9.91s, while the second place was won by Bouwahjgie Nkrumie from Jamaica, 10.02s.

The third place was won by South African athlete, Benjamin Richardson who did 10.12s and the representative of Thailand, Puripol Boonson was in fourth place, 10.12s.

Yesterday, Azeem created a sensation when he broke the national record in the 100m event with a record of 10.09s, thereby topping the competition for the eight heats and advancing to the semi-finals.

Azeem rewrote the national record previously held by Khairul Hafiz Jantan (10.18s) when he won the competition at the 2016 Malaysian Games (SUKMA) in Sarawak.

Early tomorrow morning, Azeem is scheduled to participate in the 200m heats, which will see the three best riders and the three best times, earning a place in the semi-finals.

Azeem once again asked for prayers and support from Malaysians.

“Pray for me. I will run in the third heat of the eighth lane. I hope Malaysians pray for me so that I can progress to the next level. God willing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Azeem’s Twitter account was also overflowing with congratulatory messages from netizens who were proud of the Perakian runner’s achievement.

Pic & Source: Berita Harian