By Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports
RI’s Isaac Toh (#247) clearing the final hurdle ahead of Shawn Jong (#102) of Singapore Sports School. Isaac clinched gold in 59.80 seconds, while Shawn followed in second place with a timing of 1 minute 0.82 seconds. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Thursday, April 10, 2014 — Isaac Toh of Raffles Institution (RI) clinched the boys’ C Division 400 metres hurdles gold medal with a timing of 59.80 seconds at the 55th National Inter-School Track & Field Championships. Isaac was the only athlete in the field to finish under the one-minute mark.
Shawn Jong of Singapore Sports School finished second with a timing of 1:00.82, while RI’s Shaun Hin was third in 1:03.18.
It is Isaac’s first gold medal at the National Championships. In last year’s edition, Isaac only managed a third-place finish with a timing of 1:04.97. The 14-year-old commented, “I feel very thankful to my coach, teachers-in-charge and also, my teammates. I really wanted to win my first gold at a national standard, so I pushed myself hard during training. I also want to thank the rest of my competitors for doing their best during the race. They motivated me to keep going forward.”
The C Division 400m hurdles record is 58.73s, and was set by Hua Yi Secondary alumnus, Loh Guo Pei, twice in 2005. Isaac’s performance here was the fourth fastest time ever in the C Division at these championships. Low Ziron, then of Hwa Chong Institution, clocked 59.73s to win gold in 2009. The only other athlete to do a sub-minute timing was Calvin Quek who ran 59.81s in 2010.
Guo Pei, Ziron and Calvin never won another 400m hurdles title at the Schools’ championships.
C Div 400m Hurdles (Boys) Results
1st Toh Beam Isaac (#247, Raffles Institution) – 59.80s
2nd Shawn Jong Tze Chean (#102, Singapore Sports School) – 1:00.82
3rd Shaun Hin Fei (#240, Raffles Institution) – 1:03.18
4th Neo Zhenrui Daniel (#451, Hwa Chong Institution) – 1:03.58
5th Jonathan Audie Widjaja (#272, St. Joseph’s Institution) – 1:04.68
6th Tung Kin Chong Colin (#248, Raffles Institution) – 1:05.51
7th Lee Zhexian Thaddeus (#277, St. Joseph’s Institution) – 1:07.72
8th Chiew Le Wei (#390, Victoria School) – 1:07.76
Video © SAA. Used with permission.
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