Yupun becomes first South Asian to break 10-second barrier

Sri Lankan Olympic sprinter Yupun Abeykoon became the highlight as he set up a new South Asian record in the 100m race with a superb time of 9.96 seconds to win the Resisprint International Chaux-de-Fonds 2022 held in Switzerland yesterday.

This is the first time in history that an athlete from South Asia has completed this 100m event in less than 10 seconds as well as clocking the best time in Asia in 2022. Cuban athlete Mena Reynier was second with 9.99 seconds while France athlete Zeze Micheal was placed third with 10 .00 seconds. Earlier, Abeykoon was placed first with 10.11 seconds to finish first in the heat race to qualify for the final.

The Vice President of the Italy Olympic Committee Kelum Perera who is also a Sri Lankan-based official in Italy said, “Abeykoon is a very dedicated athlete and hopes for more improvement under the guidance of his coach in Italy.”