HANGZHOU – It was a record that Marc Louis had been chasing for two years and the national sprinter finally got his breakthrough as he broke the longstanding 100m national mark at the Asian Games on Saturday.
It took a while for his time to flash on the screen at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, but when his time of 10.27 seconds finally came up, his joy at claiming the record could not be contained as he jumped in celebration.
The 21-year-old’s effort saw him finish sixth in the third semi-final and 13th overall, 0.08sec behind Bahrain’s Saeed Alkhaldi, the last qualifier for the eight-man final.
China’s Xie Zhenye, the top qualifier with 10.03sec, won the final in a sizzling 9.97sec, with Thailand’s Puripol Boonson (10.02sec) and Malaysia’s Azeem Fahmi (10.11sec) second and third respectively.
While Louis did not advance to the final, his time was enough to better U. K. Shyam’s national mark of 10.37sec set in 2001.
A beaming Louis, who was still slightly speechless at the mixed zone, said: “I was standing there waiting for my time, then it stopped, then had to wait again.
“I saw it was 10.27 and I was jumping around.
“I’m very, very happy to finally break the national record. I’ve been waiting the whole year.”
He first came close in December 2021, when he clocked 10.39sec at the Sprint Series Meeting in Singapore.
He matched his personal best two more times in 2023 en route to clinching silver at May’s Cambodia SEA Games and again at July’s Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok.
Louis, who also has three SEA Games bronze medals, finally lowered his personal best on Friday when he registered 10.38sec in the 100m heats in Hangzhou, before he shattered the national record by 0.1sec in the semi-finals on Saturday.
He was surprised by this performance, saying: “I think the goal was just to break (the record) – no matter how much I broke it, it’s still very good.
“I didn’t expect to break it that much, I just executed my race perfectly and I’m very happy, I’m speechless... Shyam ran a very good time that was very hard to break... I’m a bit lost (for words) now.”
Breaking the record has only fuelled Louis’ ambition. He said: “This whole year, I’ve been hitting 10.39, which is a good and bad thing, but I just learnt from it and today, I’m very happy that I’ve finally broken it. It’s extra motivation moving forward.”
Louis had started his track career as a hurdler, offering a glimpse of his talent early on as he won a historic gold for Singapore at the 2019 Asian Youth Championships in the 400m hurdles.
He made his SEA Games debut in 2022, winning bronze in the 100m and 4x100m relay. At the 2023 edition, he was also part of the 4x100m quartet who retained their bronze.
