Following his ill-fated campaign in Cambodia two years ago, teen sensation Puripol “Bew” Boonson, arguably the finest sprinter Thailand has ever produced, is determined to redeem himself with a golden treble at the upcoming 33rd SEA Games on home soil.
The 19-year-old shot to the fame in stunning fashion by a hat-trick of titles in men’s 100m, 200m and 4x100m events when he made his debut at the Covid-delayed Games in Vietnam in 2022.
His previous Games outing in Phnom Penh, though, turned into a nightmare after injury picked up in the preliminary race prematurely ended his title defence, much to the disappointment of Thai people.
With the 33rd edition of the region’s biennial sporting event about to begin on Tuesday, the prodigious sprinter is looking forward to a chance to put the record straight this time around in front of the home crowd.
I’ll compete in three events at this year’s Games and want to snatch all three gold medals to make up for what happened last time (in Cambodia).
“Physically, I’m fully fit and still training with the men’s 4x100m relay team under the head sprint coach, Gentry Bradley, who’s helped us greatly to improve our potentials.
Given that the track and field competition of the Games will take place at the Supachalasai Stadium between December 11 and 16, Puripol is eyeing to leave his mark on the country’s most iconic venue located in the heart of Bangkok.
Not just winning the golds, I also want to set a record by clocking my run under 10 secs in the 100m event. We host the Games this time and the competition takes place at the Supachalasai Stadium, where I used to compete during my childhood days.
“It’s my favourite stadium and it would mean a lot if I could record my first ever dash under 10 secs there in front of Thai fans.”
Puripol’s expected haul of three gold medals is among 17 titles the Athletics Association of Thailand aims to deliver at the home Games running between December 9-20 in Bangkok and Chon Buri.
A total of 574 gold medals are on offer from 50 official sports, three demonstration disciplines (Air Sports, Flying Disc and Tug of War) and one “value-added” sport (the mixed martial arts) featuring in the 33rd SEA Games.
