KUALA LUMPUR: The pint-size Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli was not even born yet when G. Shanti set the women's national 100m record of 11.50 seconds in a pre-Sea Games competition in Kuala Lumpur on May 7, 1993.
Thirty-one years later, the Kedahan ran 11.49s at the Perlis Athletics Open in Kangar today to erase Shanti's record in the blue riband event.
The 56-year-old Shanti said: "I'm happy and proud that athletes of this generation are training and working hard to bring Malaysian athletics to greater heights.
"I was 26 years old when I broke the national record and Zaidatul was 31 when she shattered my record.
"Age is just a number. With proper training and hard work, I believe she can further improve her time.
"Her goal in next year's Sea Games (in Bangkok) is to win the 100m gold," said Shanti.
Shanti won the 200m gold and 100m silver in the 1991 Manila Sea Games, and in the 1993 edition in Singapore, she won silvers in both the sprints.
Shanti missed the 1995 Sea Games as she gave birth to her first child. But she came back for the 1997 Jakarta Sea Games and won golds in the 100m and 200 gold and a silver in the 4x400m.
Coach Harun Rasheed, who guided Shanti to break the national record in 1993, congratulated Zaidatul for her achievement.
"I salute her. Despite her age of 31, she still managed to break the national record.
"Zaidatul needs a high level of competition if she hopes to finish on the podium in next year's Sea Games.
"She will face a strong challenge from one of Asia's fastest women, Shanti Pereira (of Singapore) who has a personal best of 11.20."