Kuala Lumpur: Sprint queen Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli may have to wait longer than expected earlier to have her national 100m record ratified by the World Athletics (WA). Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) Technical Director Robert Ballard, who previously assured Zaidatul Husniah that the issue would be resolved by Sunday, expects WA to update the information submitted by the national athletics governing body soon, following a long festive break.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, World Athletics only returned to work after a 10-day break, which may result in a backlog of requests from all over the world. Ballard expressed confidence that WA would address the updated information provided to them as soon as practicable.
Previous media reports indicated that the 31-year-old’s 11.49-second mark, set at the Perlis Open Athletics Championship last October, has yet to be recognised by WA due to issues with documentation related to wind readings. This mark had surpassed G. Shanti’s long-standing women’s 100m national record of 11.50 seconds, set in Kuala Lumpur on May 7, 1993, just a few months before Zaidatul Husniah was born.
Zaidatul Husniah, affectionately known as ‘Adeq,’ mentioned on Saturday that Ballard had assured her the issue would be resolved within 48 hours since Friday. She is hopeful about the ratification of her 11.49-second record, particularly after her 11.36-second mark at the AGN League 7 Athletics Championship in Pretoria, South Africa, in 2017 was not recognised due to wind assistance.
Meanwhile, Ballard clarified that MAF had ratified Muhammad Fakrul Afizul Nasir’s 51.11-second time set at the 2024 Malaysian Games (SUKMA) in Kuching, Sarawak, as the national men’s 400m hurdles record, although the results were not published on the WA website. He explained that SUKMA was not a World Athletics permit meet, and thus, Fakrul Afizul’s record cannot count towards any world ranking points or qualifications for WA events.
Ballard noted that for the first time, Malaysia held seven WA-permitted meets last year, including events in Johor, Perak, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis, and Sarawak. He added that MAF is still awaiting wind readings for all the required events from the Sarawak Super Series finals, held from November 16-17.