Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan and Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports
Amirah Aljunied (#69, RI) won gold in 26.29s. Teammate Nicole Hu (#78, RI) was third in 27.94s. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Bishan Stadium, Monday, April 25, 2016 — Amirah Aljunied of Raffles Institution (RI) clocked 26.29 seconds to clinch the A Division Girls’ 200 metres gold at the 57th National Schools Track and Field Championships.
Hannah Yeo (27.85s) of Victoria Junior College finished in second while Amirah’s RI teammate Nicole Hu (27.94s) came in third. Both won their first ever individual medals for these annual championships.
This was Amirah’s second National Schools 200m gold in a row. Last year, while representing CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh), she had claimed the B Division 200m-400m double gold, clocking 25.94s for the 200m and one-minute flat for the 400m. In 2014, she had only finished third in the B Division 200m with a 26.92s timing.
Her margin of victory is the largest in this event since 1991, when former national sprinter Mona Kunalan, then of Swiss Cottage Secondary, clocked 25.5s over second-placed Clara Ong, who ran 27.3s while representing National JC.
Sharing her post-race thoughts, the RI Year 5 student said, “I’m happy with the first position, but not so much with the timing. I had injuries and also fell sick at the start of the year, so it was quite hard for me to pick up after that. But I’m still grateful for the gold.”
Amirah’s 200m personal best still stands at 25.69s, clocked in May last year at the 1st Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Amirah will now look to complete the sprint double, as she has qualified fastest for the A Division Girls’ 100m final, clocking a personal best of 12.97s in the heats. This is the first time that she is competing in the 100m event.
She will also be running in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays for her RI team. The 100m and relay finals will all take place on Friday, April 29, at the National Stadium.
On her hopes for the relays, Amirah remarked, “I think for the 4x100m my team is aiming for first, but for the 4x400m I’m not sure, we’ll just do our best.”
A Division Girls’ 200m – Top 8
1st Amirah Aljunied (#69, Raffles Institution) — 26.29 seconds
2nd Hannah Yeo Hui Wen (#158, Victoria JC) — 27.85
3rd Nicole Hu Juan-Ning (#78, Raffles Institution) — 27.94
4th Zhang Jingxuan (#216, Hwa Chong Institution) — 28.08
5th Audrey Sarah Tan (#187, Hwa Chong Institution) — 28.33
6th Delia Low Ting (#26, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)) — 28.51
7th Natalie Chu Sin Ping (#50, National JC) — 28.61
8th Chai Yinn (#115, Dunman High School) — 29.02
Wind speed: 0.0 metres per second
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