Four crowned as Singapore’s fastest kids

Contributed by Fatimah Mehron Nisha Binte Abdul Razak

Four kids aged three to nine years old emerged as champions among 1,320 participants who competed at Singapore’s first competitive kids sprint event, Sprint Kids 2010, held at the shopping mall over the last three weekends.

Ahmad Izzuddin, nine, winner of Jurong Point Kiddo Sprint (Boys), finished in 5.47seconds with a close win, as runner-up Brian Julian Colond finished just 0.01 seconds behind in 5.48. Other than Ahmad, six-year-olds Gareth Lim Jun Le and Nadia Azuhar, and nine-year-old Olivia Lim Wei Shan, clinched the top spot of their respective categories.

Organised by SAFRA Jurong and presented by Jurong Point, participants competed in four sprint categories on a specially designed 30-metre running track. The top eight contenders for each category took their final sprints this morning for an opportunity to be heralded as Singapore’s Fastest Kids and bag the attractive prize up to $1,000 in cash.

The proud father of Gareth, Mr Gabriel Lim, 35, had more reasons to be happy about. He shared: “This event has added a competitive element to an otherwise fun event, making it suitable for young kids. This opportunity has brought out the untested talent of my son. I didn’t know he can run this fast! This is the first running event my son has taken part in and after finding out his hidden talent, this will not be his last.”

Mr Lim added that the event has also brought his family closer together, as they take this chance to go out as a family and enjoy each other’s company.

Gareth crossed the finishing line in 6.48s, beating six-year-old Vengkatesh s/o Mathiwanen, who finished in 6.58s.

Mr Tommy Ang, Club Manager of SAFRA Jurong, commented: “SAFRA Jurong is well patronised by NSmen and their families and we run many interesting activities on a regular basis to create opportunities for family bonding. Sprinting can be a very fun and healthy sport to engage the kids and parents can be part of that memorable experience as they cheer them on. We also wanted to bring the action out into the heartlands to engage other NSmen and their families in the community. ”

Mr William Seet, Centre Director for Marketing of Jurong Point, said: “We are glad to be the presenter of the inaugural Sprint Kids event. Holding this unique race within Jurong Point has added more buzz to the shopping experience for the many families that patronise our mall every weekend. It has certainly drawn much interest from the crowd and we are happy to help inculcate fun and sports to families through this event.”

The event was graced by Guest-of-Honour Mr Joseph Foo, Chairman of the Pioneer Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC) who also presented the prizes to the winners.