KUALA LUMPUR: The mission to find national sprinters who can be the first in Southeast Asia to clock below 10 seconds (s) in the 100 metres (m) sprint under the 100m Below 10s Project (Project B10) has begun.
The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in a statement said the first selection trial for the southern zone under the joint venture project between the ministry and the MOHE Athletics Focus Sports Centre (PST) at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) will be held at the Educity Sports Complex, Iskandar Puteri in Johor.
In addition to finding sprinters who can post under 10s, the project also aims to find versatile runners capable of mastering other events such as the 200m and 4x100m relay.
The five-year special programme targets 10 to 20 trainees who pass the selection trials to be placed centrally and given adequate training and exposure by the country's renowned sprint coaches.
They will also be guided by former national sprint champions.
Among the eligibility requirements are male athletes aged 18 to 23, able to run under four seconds over a distance of 30m, post less than 6.50s for a distance of 60m, able to perform vertical jumps from standing position more than 55cm and have a physical height of more than 1.78cm.
"MOHE is very confident and believes in the ability of local coaches in mobilising their energy and expertise to realise the country's dream (to produce sprinters who can run the 100m in under 10s," said the statement.
Project B10 was officiated by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad on Nov 5 last year.
At the event, it was also announced that the potential athletes to be listed in Project B10 are Jonathan Nyepa who has a personal best 10.28s followed by Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap (10.29s), Muhammad Aqil Yasmin (10.39s), Muhammad Zulfiqar Ismail (10.40s), Muhammad Aiedel Saadon (10.69s), Muhammad Solihin Jamali (10.62s) and Muhammad Nazrul Naim Azman (10.70s).
For the record, Su Bingtian of China is the Asian 100m record holder with a time 9.83s that he set in August 2021 while Indonesian champion Lalu Muhammad Zohri is the fastest runner in Southeast Asia in the event. He clocked 10.03s in May 2019.-- BERNAMA