KUALA LUMPUR: A week ago, Pengiran Aidil Auf Hajam was running against others from other states in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Kuching. Now, he's already in Lima, Peru, to run against others from other countries in a world-level event starting tomorrow.
The Sabah sprinter, who arrived in Lima on Saturday, has less than three days to acclimatise to the Southern Hemisphere in the Under-20 World Athletics Championships.
Pengiran will compete in three events: 100m, 200m and 4x100m over five days.
At Sukma, he won the men's 200m bronze in 21.60 seconds on Aug 20 and a 4x100 silver on Aug 23.
At continental level, he was the only Malaysian who won back-to-back bronze in the 200m at the Asian Under-20 Championships last year in South Korea, and this year in Dubai.
Pengiran has a personal best of 10.52 in the 100m and 21.28 in the 200m.
Sabah coach Jumain Taepe said it is going to be a challenge for Pengiran to adapt fast to the different time zones and environment in Lima.
"With the stiff competition in Lima, I hope Pengiran will be able to clock personal best in both sprint events."
Six other Malaysians will compete in Lima. They are Hanssen Yap (100m, 4x100m), Sayyid Amin Roslan (200m, 4x100m), Fiross Faizal (110m hurdles), Khali Helmi (400m), Aiman Najmi Anuar (400m hurdles) and Ng Tak sing (triple jump).
No Malaysians have ever won a medal at the world junior meet. In 2022 in Cali, Colombia, Azeem Fahmi broke the national 100m record by clocking 10.09s in the heats.