Asian Games: Thai Puripol Boonson – sprint double in a world class show

Mumbai: Thailand’s Puripol Boonson streaked to victory in the 200m, like he had in the 100m two days ago. As he slowed on after his imperious win, he settled into a pose made famous by the greatest in sprinting history.

The 20-year-old stretched his left hand pointing upward, bent his torso slightly and pointed his bent right hand towards his head. A pose made famous by legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

A pose borrowed alright, but it fit every bit into the show the young Thai has put on in the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Not merely winning, but decimating the field and clocking world class timings.

On Sunday, on the rain-drenched track at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, Boonson opened daylight between himself and the rest once he hit the front approaching the straight.

The Thai sprinter, given the moniker “Thep” or angel, by the Thai media, flew down the track to win the men’s 200m final, equalling the Asian record.

He then stood and posed draped in the Thai flag next to the scoreboard that flashed “Asian record, 19.88secs.” He had equalled the Asian mark set by China’s Xie Zhenye in 2019. Boonson had already set a new Asian Games record at 20.10secs in the semis on Saturday, which he bettered with his first sub-20 run.

Boonson has put Thailand on the sprint map in some style in Japan, having also set the meet record in the 100m.

On Friday, he set the Asian Games 100m record twice within a few hours. He clocked 9.91secs in the semi-final to better the 9.92secs China’s Su Bingtian had set in the 2018 Jakarta Games.

That run made him the second fastest Asian ever in the 100m, only behind Su’s best time of 9.83secs, set in the semi-finals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Boonson, later on Friday evening, clocked 9.90secs to go better and clinch the gold, his astonishing speed and acceleration belying his relatively shorter frame.

“Be patient and keep going,” he had said after the race about his thought process, Olympics.com quoted him as saying. “My dream was to do it and I did, I am so happy.”

Boonson’s 100m effort ended Thailand’s 48-year wait for gold medal in an individual track event at the Asiad.

His Aichi-Nagoya showing has been memorable for Boonson. He ran sub-10secs for 100m three times, having clocked 9.95secs in the heats.

“I am so excited, I am so happy with my 9.95. I am surprised. I just expected to run 10 seconds in the heats, but my time is better than I thought,” he said.

He might have been modest, but such impressive performances were always on the cards.

At the ASEAN Games last December, he achieved a sprint double. He clocked 9.94secs to win the 100m, making him the first South East Asian to go sub-10. He clocked 20.07secs to clinch the 200m, setting U-20 Asian records in both events.

Born in Surin in eastern Thailand, Boonson first took up handball. He was not the best player in the club he played for while in elementary school near Bangkok. However, he was quickly scouted by the school athletics coach for track after he watched the 10-year-old playing with his friends.

Nicknamed “Bew” by his parents, he started to develop in the sport and break the national records and Thai media dubbed him “Thep Bew.”

He has been blazing a trail since then.

So much so that only Erriyon Knighton (19.84), Bolt (20.13s) and Gout Gout of Australia (20.04) have run faster than him before turning 18.

Now the six-footer has become only the third Asian to run a sub-20 200m.

This is not his first outing at the Asian Games though. He competed in 2023 Hangzhou as a 17-year-old, winning the 100m silver. But he retired due to injury in the 200m semi-final.

At the athletics stadium in Nagoya, however, the angel truly arrived.