Hazwari of Singapore Poly wins gold in 400m hurdles debut

By REDintern Soh Rui Yong

Gombak Stadium, Saturday, January 30, 2010 - In his very first attempt at the distance, Hazwari Bin Abdul Wahid of Singapore Polytechnic (SP), surprised everybody, including himself, by clocking a quick time of 58.57 seconds to win the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the 2010 Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Track and Field Championships.

For years, Hazwari, now in the first year of his Electrical Electronic Engineering course, had plied his trade on the track in the longer distance events such as the 1500m, 3000m steeplechase, and the 5000m.

He has also had several successful attempts at cross country races, notably finishing a respectable 7th in the B Division at the National Inter-School Cross Country Championships in 2008 and most recently finishing 19th in the Men's Open at the SAA National Cross Country Championships 2010 on the 23rd of January.

Hence, more than a few eyebrows were raised when Hazwari was introduced to the crowd by the stadium announcer before the start of the 400m hurdles final. After a poor start in which Hazwari struggled to clear his first two hurdles, he eventually settled into a steady rhythm, overtaking the other runners and moving into the lead at the 250m mark.

He would then not only hold on to his lead, but continue to extend his advantage all the way to the finish, crossing the line more than a second away from his nearest competitor, Leong Yu Cheng of Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NYP) who finished in 59.67.

When asked how the race unfolded from his point of view, Hazwari shared, "This being my first ever 400m hurdles race, I had no experience at all and that probably contributed to me messing up on the first two hurdles.

“After the second hurdle however, I saw my coach on the sidelines, and told myself that I had better focus and get it right, or else! From then on I managed to settle into my rhythm and run smoothly to the finish."

Hazwari also shared, "I entered the race because our team had not enough hurdlers, and went in with no expectations whatsoever, other than to earn a few points for my school team. My coach felt that I had a chance to do well in the 400m hurdles, as I have decent 400m base speed, being able to run about 53s for the 400m, and I also have experience in clearing obstacles being a steeplechase runner as well. I only began training for this event a few weeks ago and am pleasantly surprised at winning the gold medal, as it was entirely unexpected!"

Asked if this triumph would prompt him to call time on his long distance career and switch to the shorter hurdles event, Hazwari laughingly replied, "Must see how lah! Will discuss with my coach first!"

The triumph of this versatile young athlete shows that with dedication and a willingness to learn, it is never too late to pick up something new. As long as we put our mind, heart and soul to it, the sky's the limit for all of us!