New Mark 'A Relief' For Quek

Bettering national 400m hurdles record a breakthrough after period of stagnation

- Kimberly Kwek

Days before his men's 400m hurdles race at the ICAAK Athletic Games in Kyoto, Singapore's Calvin Quek faced an unexpected obstacle after his name was inadvertently left out of the start list.

After several days of chasing the organisers for a solution, he was reinstated on Aug 9 for the Aug 12 event at the Takebishi Stadium. But he was allocated the tight Lane 1, which featured sharper curves.

Determined not to let the misfortune distract him, he focused on executing his race plan. It worked a treat as he won in 50.24 seconds to rewrite his own national record of 50.43sec set at the World University Games in 2023.

The result was a breakthrough after a challenging 2024 season, when Quek struggled to match the upward trajectory he had shown in 2022 and 2023.

The 29-year-old said: "I think 2024 wasn't the best season considering (what happened in 2022 and 2023). There was the expectation that I would continue to improve on that trajectory. And in 2025, I was trying to figure out what was wrong, regroup with my coach, see what else we can do and just work towards it.