By Erwin Wong/Red Sports

51st track and field championships

Zachary Devaraj on his way to breaking the 1500m record earlier this year in the National Inter-School Track and Field Championships. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports archive)

With the Youth Olympic Games five weeks away, middle distance runner Zachary Devaraj’s preparations are coming right on song.

The 15-year-old Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student turned in superb personal bests in the 800 and 1500 metres at the ASEAN School Games track and field competition earlier this week, clocking times which were unheard of in recent years at national junior level.

Zachary ran his 800m in 1 minute 56.27 seconds, a time which is faster than C. Veeramani’s 1994 B Division National Schools meet record of 1:56.7, and over a second quicker than his own 1:57.34 clocked at April’s National Inter-School Track and Field Championships.

After setting an electronic timing record of 4:12.61 in the 1500m at the schools’ meet, Zachary told Red Sports, “I am satisfied with my 1500m record, but also feel I could have gone faster with more competition.”

When asked how fast he believed he could run the distance, Zachary replied: “Around 4:07. I will be representing Singapore at the ASEAN School Games, and I hope the stronger competition there will spur me on to achieve my target. I will also be aiming to win a medal for Singapore there.”

Although he missed out on a medal in Kuala Lumpur, he beat the target time he set for himself. He stormed his way to a 4:06.11 display in the 1500m final at the ASEAN School Games to finish fourth, breaking his own personal best by nearly five seconds and running the fastest time by a Singaporean this year and even in recent memory, since Chamkaur Singh set the national record of 3:51.59 in 2002.

“I had a slow start, planning not to be boxed out, but found myself at the back,” Zachary told Red Sports from Kuala Lumpur. “I struggled to get to the front and was elbowed and blocked. 500m from the end, I started to overtake but could not overtake the front three. I’m satisfied but disappointed with no medal. My last hope is the 4x400m relays.”

This has been a breakthrough year for the Secondary Four student, where he has slashed his personal bests tremendously and even winning the National Schools B Division Cross-Country individual title in March.

His form certainly looks good for the YOG, where he will race in the 1000m. The prince of Singapore’s middle distance ran a 2:32.77 at May’s Asian Area Qualification meet to finish fifth, but was nominated by the Singapore National Olympic Council to take part in the YOG as a wildcard entry.

From the way Zachary has been running this year, we can expect great things from the boy at the Games in August.

He may be a Z in name, but Zachary is definitely an A-plus in talent, ability and potential.