Story by REDintern Alyssa Almas. Photos by REDintern Julianna Jothi and Iman Hashim/Red Sports.

Nedunchezian Selvageethan of Raffles Institution went under the sub-2 barrier to clinch the A Division boys' 800m gold in 1:59.44. (Photo 1 © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

Nedunchezian Selvageethan of Raffles Institution went under the sub-2 barrier to clinch the A Division boys’ 800m gold in 1:59.44. (Photo 1 © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Monday, March 25, 2019 — Raffles Institution (RI)’s Nedunchezian Selvageethan made his breakthrough at the 60th National Schools Track and Field Championships, clinching his first ever individual gold medal in the A Division Boys’ 800 metres final.

The second-year junior college student blazed past the finish line in a time of 1 minute and 59.44 seconds — the only athlete in the event across all divisions to finish under two minutes. He smashed his previous personal best, a timing of 2:02.47 achieved in last year’s final, where he placed fourth.

Pleasantly surprised by his showing, he shared: “I’ve never won this event before, so it’s kind of a new feeling for me. I’ve been running for six years, and to win the first one, it’s really special to me. It’s a new experience really, seeing the view from the front.”

The race was won by Selvageethan from the start, having taken the lead early on during the race. Despite all the other runners attempting to overtake him, he held on to his first position, lengthening his lead over the rest of the athletes.

With his long, powerful strides, he crossed the finish line with a comfortable lead over silver medallist Chua Jia Wei of Hwa Chong Institution, who finished with a time of 2:02.98. Ng Jing Heng of Yishun Innova Junior College clocked 2:04.41 to take the bronze.

Meanwhile, calamity struck on the last stretch of the race as Harpreet Singh of ACS(I), who was in the top three positions, collapsed with about 50 metres to go.

Harpreet seemed disoriented and stumbled across the track, leaving the rest of the runners to swerve around him. Determined to finish the race, he dragged himself across the finish line, where he was immediately tended to by paramedics.

Having qualified fastest from the heats, Selvageethan shared his initial fears about the final: “I was nervous before, but once you’re on the track, you’re on the track. I wasn’t really thinking about anything, but just to go out there and do my best.”

Selvageethan added that he had no fear of his other competitors and that they were more encouraging than anything, and pushed him to do his best.

“I mean we’re all friends, so there wasn’t really that much of a competitive feeling — it was more of messing up the race myself, than about them winning the race,” he said.

With a win finally under his belt, Selvageethan had many people to thank for his success.

Smiling, he said: “I would definitely like to thank my coach, my teachers and my friends. There’s no way I would have been able to do it without them.”

A Division Boys’ 800m Final – Results
1st Nedunchezian Selvageethan (Raffles Institution, #125) — 1:59.44
2nd Chua Jia Wei (Hwa Chong Institution, #237) — 2:02.98
3rd Ng Jing Heng (Yishun Innova Junior College, #38) — 2:04.41
4th Kauthar Ahmed Basharahil (National Junior College, #98) — 2:05.20
5th Dave Tung Kin Pang (Hwa Chong Institution, #273) — 2:05.55
6th Zechariah Low (Saint Andrew’s Junior College, #156) — 2:05.74
7th Brian Tong Kok Jun (Saint Andrew’s Junior College, #143) — 2:07.20
8th Amir Rusyaidi Osman (Anglo Chinese School (Independent), #42) — 2:08.36

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