Thai sprinter Puripol breaks own Asian Games record to win 100m gold

In Nagoya, Thailand's Puripol Boonson shattered his own Asian Games record to claim the men's 100m gold in 9.90 seconds, on Friday. China's Chen Yujie claimed the women's 100m gold, finishing in a Games-record 11.06 seconds, displacing Singapore's Shanti Pereira (11.21) to the silver. Bahrain's Edidiong Odiong secured the bronze with a time of 11.33.

Puripol's semi-final time of 9.91 seconds had previously outpaced China's Su Bingtian's 9.92 seconds from the 2018 edition in Jakarta. However, Puripol managed to shave another 100th of a second off that record during the final, outpacing Omani runners Ali Al-Balushi (10.04) and Malham Al-Balushi (10.11).

The Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya was only about a quarter full, as Puripol and Chen's performances were watched. This marked Thailand's first men's 100m gold medal since Suchart Jairsuraparp's victory on home soil at the 1978 Bangkok Games.

Bahrain's Birhanu Balew won his fourth Asian Games gold medal with a gold in the men's 10,000 meters in 28 minutes 27.51 seconds. Balew had previously won the 5,000m gold in Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou three years ago. Balew, who is Ethiopian-born, aims to add a fifth Asian Games gold in the 5,000 meters event on Tuesday. He expressed his ambition, saying, "I think that after the 5,000 meters, Inshallah, I will get another gold medal, the fifth."