C Div 400m Hurdles: Adam Teo of RI wins gold in 1:02.45

By Tay Jun Wen/Red Sports

Adam Teo (#196) of RI on his way to winning the C Div 400m hurdles final in a time of 1:02.45. Marcell Tan (#74, right) of Sports School was second in 1:03.71 while Isaac Toh (#223), also of RI, was third in 1:04.97. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Choa Chu Kang Sports Complex, Monday, April 15, 2013 — Adam Teo of Raffles Institution (RI) won the C Division 400m hurdles gold medal when he clocked 1 minute 2.45 seconds at the 54th National Inter-School Track and Field Championships.

In second place was Marcell Tan of Singapore Sports School in 1:03.71. Isaac Toh, also of RI, was third in 1:04.97.

The record for the C Div 400m hurdles is 58.73s, and was set in 2005 by Loh Guo Pei, then of Hua Yi Secondary.

Adam took the lead after the final bend of the track and no one could catch him over the final 100 metres. Despite his win, Adam felt that he could have done better. “It was a fun and competitive race. But it was not up to my expectations. I hit three to four hurdles and I did not want that,” said Adam.

Marcell also had a relatively bad run for him. He said: “I did not expect to win. I usually cross (the hurdle) with my left leg, but I was crossing it with my right this time.”

“So you were crossing with your dummy leg right,” Adam asked him. Marcell nodded his head in response.

Adam’s teammate, Isaac, felt that it was an enjoyable race. But he too realised that improvements could be made. He said: “It was hard to push mentally. I could not have control at the end. I was jumping more instead of hurdling.”

C Division Boys 400m Hurdles Results
1st Adam Teo (Raffles Institution, #196) — 01:02.45
2nd Marcell Tan Yann Guang (Singapore Sports School, #74) — 01:03.71
3rd Toh Beam Isaac (Raffles Institution, #223) — 01:04.97
4th Randall Choo Tian Xi (Hwa Chong Institution, #437) — 01:05.89
5th Charlton Lucian Tan Kian Ren (St. Joseph’s Institution, #249) — 01:06.66
6th James Soh Weng Kit (Hwa Chong Institution, #425) — 01:08.04
7th Tung Kin Chong Colin (Raffles Institution, #225) — 01:08.43
8th Dylan Tan Jiaming (St. Joseph’s Institution, #252) — 01:11.64