Thai teen sprint ace Puripol narrowly misses bronze at world u20
Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson narrowly failed to win the bronze in the men’s 100 metres final at the 19th World Athletics U20 Championships on Wednesday at the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero Stadium in Cali, Colombia.
The 16-year-old Puripol, who has emerged as one of the finest sprinters in Asia, finished fourth in 10.12 seconds after failing to get a good start. Despite a poor start and trailing initially, the Thai teen put in a spectacular burst, but was pipped at the tape for the bronze.
The performance was below his record-breaking 10.09 seconds effort to win his semi-final.
Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo won the gold, breaking the competition record, in 9.91 seconds, followed by Bouwahjgie Nkrumie from Jamaica (10.02 seconds) and Benjamin Richardson from the US (10.12 seconds).
Puripol had burst into the limelight with three gold medals in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi in May.
