Thai sprinting sensation Puripol Boonson delivered a historical performance on Friday, capturing the gold medal in the men's 100-metre sprint and shattering the Asian Games record twice in a single day at the 20th Asian Games in Japan.
The 20-year-old runner first stunned spectators during the late afternoon semi-finals (local time), blazing across the finish line in a time of 9.91 seconds to secure his place in the finals.
Returning to the track for the final at 8:20pm, Puripol outdid himself, surging ahead of the field to clock an extraordinary 9.90 seconds.
The run demolished the newly set Games record he had established just hours earlier and secured another coveted gold medal for Thailand.
Runners from Oman took both the silver and bronze medals.
Puripol's victory marks a significant milestone for Thai athletics. He becomes the first Thai sprinter to win gold in the men's 100-metre event at the Asian Games since Suchart Jairsuraparp achieved the feat in 1978, ending a 48-year drought for the kingdom in the flagship event.
