Edmund Sim breaks the national 20km race-walking record with his time of 1hour 36 minutes 1 second at the Asian Race Walking Championships. (Photo 1 courtesy of the Singapore Athletic Association)
Japan, Sunday, March 11, 2012 — Edmund Sim clocked 1 hour 36 minutes and 1 second at the Asian 20km Race Walking Championships in Ishikawa, Japan, to break Jairaj Kumar Jeyabal’s 15-year-old national record by 20 seconds.
The 29-year-old Singaporean held a personal best of 1 hour 54 minutes and 23 seconds prior to the race.
Edmund’s national record-breaking performance earned him ninth place at the championships. The time was also some 18 minutes faster than he had put up at a time trial organised in January to qualify for the championships.
Edmund said: “I’m very happy as I did not expect to break this national record at all. I was also recovering from a knee injury that I sustained last year after a 15km race walking competition in Malacca. I only started training intensively after Chinese New Year, training up to seven times a week for the past month.”
Edmund’s achievement marks yet another milestone for the Singapore Athletic Association (SAA), who have set their sights on reviving and developing race walking as a sport in Singapore. The association aim to identify talents to represent the country at the South East Asian (SEA) Games in 2013 and, especially, in 2015, when the SEA Games will be held in Singapore.
As part of their efforts to promote the sport, the SAA are organizing Singapore’s first combined Run and Walk event, the SAA Bugis Street Run & Walk Team Championships.
To be held on 10th June at East Coast Park, members of the public can take part in teams of four, with each team comprising of two joggers and two walkers.
The SAA are also organising a three-day race walking clinic this weekend, with former Olympic race-walker, Khoo Chong Beng, leading the clinic. More information can be found at the SAA website.
Leave A Comment