Louis Aims For SEA Games Double

His 20.89sec in 200m betters national mark and motivates him to 'bring back medals'

- Deepanraj Ganesan

The stars finally aligned for sprinter Marc Louis in Sano, Japan, on Aug 11 when he shattered the 200m mark to complete his collection of national short sprint records.

Breaking Reuben Lee's 21.07sec mark was a target set by his coach Benber Yu at the start of 2025. Eight months later, he is Singapore's fastest man in the 60m, 100m and 200m events.

At the 2nd Sano Sprint meet, Louis beat five Japanese athletes with his 20.89sec effort, with Sho Kitagawa (21.01) and Jun Yamashita (21.27) finishing second and third respectively.

His time not only eclipsed Lee's previous record set in 2022 but also went under the 21.02sec qualifying mark for the 2025 SEA Games.

"I have been trying to chase this record and it feels good to have done it," said Louis, who turned 23 on Aug 7.

"I felt very happy because there was good execution in the race. I am grateful to be in this position."

Yu, who has worked with Louis for over a decade, could not contain his happiness when he spoke to The Straits Times post-race.