Poor race, good result

It wasn't a perfect race, but Dipna Lim- Prasad still managed to rewrite her 400m hurdles national record on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Nanyang Technological University undergraduate clocked 1min 0.36sec at the Malaysian Open Track and Field Championships in Kuala Lumpur to finish third.

Her previous mark of 1:00.58 was achieved at the Singapore Open in June.

Speaking to The New Paper, she said: "My race wasn't good, my stepping was all over the place. I was hoping to get a new PB (personal best) before the race and judging by how the race went I didn't think I managed to get it.

"It was a pleasant surprise to hear that I still managed a new PB."

The 2012 Olympian was aiming to break the 60-second barrier in the race.

She broke Prema Govindan's 29-year-old national 200m record of 24.54sec with a 24.36sec effort earlier this month.

She said: "I haven't touched my 100m hurdles this year because I have been focusing on my 400m hurdles.

THE LONGER EVENT

"My coach (Viatcheslav Vassiliev) has always wanted me to go back to the longer event - I stopped that in 2008 when I switched to 100m hurdles. "The 200m and 400m events are connected - to do well in the 200m you would require speed endurance, which actually translates into better 400m times.

"The latter will in turn lead to better 400m hurdles times."

Dipna's improved performances of late will be a welcome boost for the Singapore women's 4x400m relay squad as they look ahead to December's South-east Asia (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

According to Dipna, the group - T Piriyah, Wendy Enn, Shanti Pereira, Tyra Ree, Goh Chui Ling and Dipna - are all clocking under 60sec in the 400m at the moment.

Shanti, 17, also won a silver in the women's 200m in Malaysia on Sunday with a time of 24.56sec. "It is the first time in a long time we've had all six runners in the team doing that," said Dipna.

"It really shows how our athletics scene is improving. "Right now, we wouldn't know about our SEA Games medal chances because we haven't been keeping tabs on the other countries."

sayheng@sph.com.sg

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