Thailand’s Puripol ‘Angel’ Boonson gearing for take-off with Asian Games sprint double

NAGOYA – Watch Puripol Boonson fly down the track and it becomes clear why the Thai media have given him the moniker “Thep Bew”, or Angel Bew in English.

Bew is the nickname given to him by his parents. Thep, which means angel or God in Thai and is often used to praise an athlete whose performances seem almost superhuman, is a title the sprinter has earned.

This 20-year-old sprint deity already owns six golds at the SEA Games, and multiple medals at the continental stage. Last December, he became the first South-east Asian to breach the 10-second barrier in the 100m.

Now, he represents Thailand’s best hope of ending a 48-year wait for an individual track title at the Asian Games, with the athletics action at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium beginning on Sept 24.

The last Thai athletes to win an individual track event were Suchart Jairsuraparp and Usanee Laopinkarn, who claimed the men’s 100m and women’s 200m crowns respectively at the 1978 Bangkok Games.

Puripol told Thai news outlet The Standard: “This year, I definitely expect to win a gold medal. I also want to set a new personal best, to run faster than 9.94 seconds (my current best).

“If possible, I’d like to break the Asian record (9.83sec held by Su Bingtian) because my body is in better condition now and I have a clear goal.”

In his Asian Games debut in 2023, Puripol won the 100m silver in 10.02sec, 0.05sec behind China’s gold medallist Xie Zhenye, but he withdrew from the 200m semi-finals to manage an injury.

His outing in Hangzhou offered a glimpse of his potential and now, Puripol looks poised to take both the 100m and 200m crowns – he has the leading times for both events in 2026.

In June, he clocked 9.99sec at a meet in the Czech Republic and remains the only Asian to go sub-10 this season.

His new Thai 200m national record of 20.03sec at the Taiwan Athletics Open in June is also the fastest in Asia in 2026.

Achieving the double will not be easy.

Only 10 others, including his compatriot Anat Ratanapol in 1974, have done it.

But Puripol is used to breaking barriers.

He is the first Thai to win a medal at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships with his 100m silver in 2024 and the only South-east Asian to have run the distance in under 10 seconds.

His 9.94sec effort at the 2025 SEA Games propelled him into a rarefied sub-10 club – a milestone that a South-east runner was able to reach nearly two decades after an Asian athlete broke the barrier.

In 2007, Qatar’s Samuel Francis clocked 9.99sec to become the first sprinter representing an Asian nation to go under the mark.

Defending champion (100m) Xie holds the Asian 200m record of 19.88sec, while his compatriot Huang Youwen, whose 20.15sec is the third fastest 200m time in Asia this season, is also one to watch.

Also in the mix are Japan’s Towa Uzawa, the 2025 Asian champion in the 200m, and Soshi Mizukubo, who holds the season’s second-fastest time of 20.07sec.

Other South-east Asians looking to impress at the Games are defending Singapore’s women’s 200m reigning champion Shanti Pereira and Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena.

On top of winning nine titles this season, world championships medallist Obiena recorded a season’s best in August, clearing 5.91m to win the Golden Sand Meet in Poland.

“I do understand that it’s a much tougher Asian Games this time around, but I still believe I’m capable of winning it,” he said in an interview with ESPN.

“I still believe that I’m the favourite to defend my title. Luckily, and hopefully, it stays that way, that my body and my vaulting stays the course.”

Leading the charge for the hosts’ 86-member athletics squad is 2024 Paris Olympic javelin champion Haruka Kitaguchi, Japan’s first female athlete to win a field event at the Games.

A twisted ankle and a severe elbow injury hampered her 2025 season, but the Hokkaido native underlined her ambition when she began training under Czech Jan Zelezny, a three-time Olympic champion and men’s javelin world record holder, in May.

On the hunt for gold in her Asiad debut, the 28-year-old will be challenged by China’s Yan Ziyi, who set an Asian record of 71.74m at the World Athletics Diamond League meeting in Xiamen in May to climb to second on the all-time world list.

The 18-year-old has won five of the six events she has competed in this season, placing second at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in September behind Kitaguchi.

China, who have topped the athletics medal table in every edition of the Games since 1986, also boast veterans like 2022 world champion and Paris Olympic silver medallist (discus) Feng Bin in their ranks.

Unfortunately, the star power has dimmed a little with Indian favourite Neeraj Chopra, the 2020 Olympic javelin champion and two-time Asian Games winner, missing out after suffering an ankle ligament tear.

In Chopra’s absence, Sri Lankan Rumesh Pathirage, who has won 12 events in 2026, including the Commonwealth Games and Ultimate Championship, is set to shine.

Pathirage is eyeing the Asian record of 92.97m held by Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, who is also competing in Japan but has been struggling with injuries.

Qatari high jumper Mutaz Barshim, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion, will be eyeing his fourth straight Asiad title, while reigning women’s 3000m steeplechase Olympic champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain is gunning for a three-peat.

• Dive into all the sporting action and trends in Singapore with ST’s weekly newsletter.