S-E Asia sprinters still chasing sub-10sec

Still lagging: Regional men's 100m progression

- Deepanraj Ganesan

For more than six decades, the SEA Games' men's 100m has seen the likes of speedsters Suchart Jairsuraparp and Reanchai Seeharwong of Thailand and Indonesia's Suryo Agung Wibowo crowned the region's fastest man.

But even with the evolution of sport science and modern training techniques, one milestone has eluded Southeast Asia's quickest: No one has ever run under 10 seconds at the Games.

The world's best have long surpassed the mark. Jamaican icon Usain Bolt holds the 100m world record and Olympic record of 9.58sec and 9.63sec respectively. China's Su Bingtian, who recently announced his retirement, has the Asian record of 9.83sec.

Ahead of the 2025 Games, where track and field events kick off on Dec 11 at Bangkok's Supachalasai National Stadium, the experts have weighed in on why the region's best male sprinters have not gone sub-10 and whether it will be breached in Bangkok.

The men's 100m SEA Games record stands at 10.17sec, set by Suryo Agung in 2009.

While the time would have been respectable decades ago, it now shows the stark gap in standards between Southeast Asia and the world.