By reader Dylan Mah
Calvin Kang (extreme left) with his teammates (from L to R): Lim Yao Peng, Gary Yeo, Lee Cheng Wei, Elfi Mustapha. (Photo courtesy of Joe Goh/Singapore Athletic Association)
Yio Chu Kang Stadium, Sunday, March 24, 2013 — National athlete Calvin Kang recorded a timing of 49.94 seconds in the 400m event at the Singapore Athletics Association (SAA) Track & Field Series 3.
Shattering his previous personal best of 52.74s, Kang outran other top performers such as 400m specialist, Kenneth Khoo, to finish in the top position. Kang, who represented Singapore in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics in the 100m event, was running in his first competition of 2013.
When asked about the difference between a 100m and a 400m race, Kang responded: “400m is a speed endurance event. You have to maintain a high speed running pace for a longer period of time. In 100m, it’s about the quick acceleration and hitting the maximum speed.”
Despite the event being his first this year and not the 100m distance he usually runs, Kang entered the race with high expectations.
“I felt confident about this race as my trainings have included more speed endurance sprints,” said Kang. “The full-time trainings have indeed contributed to this (performance).”
On Jan. 14, Kang made the decision to put his studies at Nanyang Technological University on hold to train full-time for the 2013 South-East Asian (SEA) Games in December. Since then, the 22-year-old has been training 11 times a week with his 4x100m teammates, Gary Yeo, Elfi Mustapa, Lee Cheng Wei, Amirudin Bin Jamal and Lim Yao Peng.
Prior to the SEA Games, the team will be looking to participate in several more local and international events such as the Asian Grand Prix (1st leg) at Bangkok, Thailand next before attempting to break their new national record of 39.58s in the 4x100m relay set last year.
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