TAKING A LONGER PATH TO SUCCESS

Thiruben's focus on 800m bears fruit as he eyes 37-year-old mark and SEA Games gold

- Deepanraj Ganesan

Whenever a Singapore track and field record is broken, Thiruben Thana Rajan gets to work quickly.

A marketing and sponsorships executive at Singapore Athletics (SA), his job includes creating social media content to celebrate the athletes' achievements and milestones.

Since joining SA as an intern in January 2023 before taking on a full-time role last June, he has had plenty to showcase - from sprint queen Shanti Pereira's historic successes at the SEA and Asian Games to the marks set by 100m runner Marc Louis and distance runner Soh Rui Yong.

Now, Thiruben, 24, is itching to write his own record, and story.

On Nov 10, the 800m runner took a significant step towards that goal by clocking a personal best (PB) of 1min 51.73sec at SA's Inter-Club Championships at Yio Chu Kang Stadium.

Competing for the Oldham Athletics team, he met the 2025 SEA Games qualifying mark of 1:53.86 and is within striking distance of the 37-year-old national record of 1:50.56 (electronic timing) set by S. Pandian.

The hand-timed mark of 1:49.9 was clocked by S. Surendra in 1983.

Thiruben, who will next compete in the Victorian Milers Club meet on Dec 19 in Melbourne, is confident that he can better both records soon.