Youth athlete Phenyo Miyen produced an incredible performance on Saturday, setting a South African best in the U18 boys 110m hurdles event in Potchefstroom.
Running alone in a solo time trial at an Athletics Central North West winter league meeting, Miyen stormed over the line, stopping the clock at 12.91 seconds.
It was the second fastest time ever run by a youth athlete. Only Sasha Zhoya of Australia, who clocked 12.87 in France in 2019, has gone quicker.
Miyen’s time was also 0.07 faster than the national youth record of 12.98 set by Matodzi Ndou in Pretoria last year.
Unofficial performance
Unfortunately for 17-year-old Miyen, however, the performance will not be considered for record purposes because he ran alone.
According to Athletics South Africa rules: “To establish a new ASA record in a track race, a minimum of three competitors must participate in an individual event”.
Nonetheless, Miyen’s coach Adri Schoeman was confident he could challenge the official SA record when he lines up at the African U18 and U20 Athletics Championships to be held in Abeokuta, Nigeria, between 16-20 July.
“We ran this as preparation for the African Championships. I believe he can run faster in Nigeria,” Schoeman said.
* Featured image of Phenyo Miyen by Cecilia van Bers
