Double golds for Aljunied family

Her day on the track started at 2.30pm with the Girls' A Division 100m final at the National Schools' Track and Field Championships at the National Stadium yesterday.

Amirah Aljunied, 17, clocked 12.87sec to win gold.

At 4.15pm, the Raffles Institution student went onto the track again with three teammates, for the Girls' A Division 4x100m relay and, in a slick display, clinched first place in 50.50.

After winning her first gold on Monday in the Girls' A Division 200m final, Amirah stepped out onto the track for her final race, the Girls' A Division 4x400m relay, hoping to make it four out of four.

Unfortunately, the quartet from Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) proved too powerful, finishing first in 4min 14.82sec, while the RI girls won silver (4:17.87). ACJC claimed the bronze in 4:21.60.

A win would have seen Amirah match the four-gold haul of the Singapore Sports School's Diane Hilary Pragasam, 15, and Pasir Ris Secondary School's Syed Hussein Aljunied, 16.

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However, Amirah was still pleased with her overall performance and attributed her success mostly to her late grandfather Hussain Aljunied, the former Singapore football coach and national player who passed away last month.

BIG SUPPORTER

"He was a big supporter. I ran most of my races for him and just thought of making him proud," she told The New Paper.

"He encouraged me the most. I started running in primary school, but I wasn't very good and I wanted to stop. But he told me not to and encouraged me to keep going.

"I'm glad I listened to him."

When asked who else contributed to her success, Amirah said: "My coach because he has been there for me since I was in Secondary 1. He's the one who really got me to where I am today.

"My teammates also as they were very supportive."

In the Boys' B Division 100m final, 16-year-old Joshua Chua (above) of RI clinched first place in 10.87, breaking the previous record of 10.90 set by Singapore Sports School's Shahrir Mohd Anuar in 2009.

"I have to thank my parents, coaches and teammates especially. This shows that my training has paid off and I'm really happy that things turned out this way," he said.