29th Feb 2020 - PPAC sprints event

photos courtesy of Alvie Kendrik and Neil Bianchi

PPAC’s first sprint event and athletes match Paralympic qualifying times

Athletes take to the start line for heat 1 of the 100m

PPAC teamed up this week with the Paralympic athletes to organise a fun sprint session at the track. This was the first time that PPAC has done a 100 or 200m race, so it was great preparation for the upcoming CNTR 2020 final where participants will compete at the same sprint distances.

Participants clapping as the event comes to a close

You can see all the photos from the event on our Facebook page

The 100m para heat gets underway

In total we had 23 athletes competing overall, including CNTR athletes, guests and para-athletes including five wheelchair athletes in a record-equalling turnout for a PPAC-organised track event.

The wheelchair athletes line up for the 100m with guest starter, international sprinter, Sokong

After warming up we gathered the athletes and headed to the 200m start. To make sure everyone was ready and comfortable with the procedure, everyone had the chance to do a practice run, while also enabling the PPAC team to iron out any technical issues before the start of the heats proper.

Martin and Meyjou give the race debrief

For the 200m athletes were divided into three heats, the first two for CNTR runners, guests and para-runners, and the third heat dedicated to the wheelchair athletes. Without a detailed performance history of all the athletes the line-ups for the first two heats were arranged as equitably as possible following discussions between the various coordinators.

Meyjou collects registration data from the para athletes

The 200m race There were two strong performances in the 200m race, from Kenya Abe and Hong Bong, with the Japanese sprinter slightly stronger and taking victory in 24.59s just ahead of the Cambodian athlete in 24.90s. In a tight battle for third place, American Will Lynch managed to hold off CNTR overall leader, Neil Bianchi, with both veteran athletes dipping under 27 seconds. Despite running very hard in the practice heat Patt Chat was able to stay ahead of compatriot Meyjou Heng and British athlete Martin Kendrik and claim fifth place in 29.42s. The remaining athletes consisting of para-runners and two guests from Northbridge International School completed the distance between 32 and 45 seconds, with a particularly stand-out performance from Sot Yin with her guide Barang Yi to record a time of 33.08s, just two seconds outside the automatic Paralympic qualifying standard.

Here are the overall 200m results

The 100m race In the 100m the top two was a similar story with Kenya Abe running out to a comfortable victory in 12.20s followed by Hong Bong in 12.77, guests Sochen, Will and Sovandara and CNTR’s Neil Bianchi were closely bunched between 13.42 and 13.57s for third to sixth places followed by sub-15s athletes Patt Chat and Meyjou Heng taking seventh and eighth.

Here are the overall 100m results

Wheelchair races
In the 200m wheelchair race, the four Cambodian athletes lined up and it was Vun Van who took first place in a strong 25.91s followed by Savoeun Heng in 26.71s. It was more closely contested between third and fourth place with Saoen Hun claiming third in 28.90s ahead of Phun Chum.

In the 100m wheelchair race Hok Hea also joined the line-up. Hok Hea took a comfortable third in 16.14s but was unable to break the dominance of the top two, Vun Van and Savoeun Heng, who took first and second in 14.70s and 15.18s respectively. Third to fifth all registered times under seventeen seconds to complete a very high standard race. This was a rather impressive race overall, and we note that today’s winning time of 14.70 is equal to the Minimum Entry Standard (MES) for this year’s 2020 Summer Paralympics due to be held in Tokyo. We are privileged to have witnessed some world class performances in our small event.

Here are the results from both the 200m and 100m wheelchair races

So we wrap it up for another successful PPAC event with a record number of participants turning out at short notice among whom seventeen Cambodians, and twelve new first-timers, including a strong representation for the para-athletes who had a rare opportunity show off their world class performances. We hope to be able to collaborate more on future events and continue to attract more runners and volunteers to come and get involved with Phnom Penh Athletics Club’s regular activities. See you all next time!