KUALA LUMPUR: It’s official! National sprinter Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli is Malaysia’s fastest woman after shattering the 24-year-old national women's 100m record with a time of 11.45 seconds at the ASA Speed Series 2 meet, in Bloemfontein, South Africa this morning.
The Kedah-born lass smashed the 11.50 seconds time recorded by former national spring queen G. Shanti in 1993.
National sprint coach Zainal Abas confirmed the matter.
She finished second in the Group B final race, which was won by University of Western Cape’s Tamzin Thomas, while University of Johanesburg’s Tsaone Sebele took third place.
Husniah, whose previous best was 11.62 seconds, had on Saturday broke the record when she clocked 11.36 seconds at the USSA Varsity Sports meet in Potchefstroom.
She was however denied the record due to a strong tailwind.
Her timing was scuppered by a wind reading of 2.5 metres per second, which is above the limit of 2.0 for record purposes.
Husniah also ran at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics on a wildcard entry and is expected to spearhead Malaysia's challenge in the women's sprints at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in Aug.
She is currently on a two-month training and competition stint in South Africa along with 10 other national athletes in preparation for the Sea Games.