WALKER Lo Choon Sieng will not have a better opportunity to qualify for the London Olympics when he competes at the Race Walking World Cup in Saransk, Russia tomorrow.
Choon Sieng, 26, has to clock one hour, 24 minutes and 50 seconds to meet the Olympic B qualifying standard in the men's 20km event, which is 20 seconds quicker than the national record and 3:14 ahead of his personal best.The World Cup has attracted some of the best walkers in the world including the world record holder Vladimir Kanaykin of Russia and top walkers from China, Italy, Poland, Germany and Mexico.
The route, which is fairly flat, is a 2km loop around the heart of Saransk which should aid Choon Sieng in his cause.
But should he fail to qualify in Saransk, Choon Sieng's chances of making it to London are limited.
"This is the best possible event for him to try to qualify with so many world-class athletes present. If he does not make it, we will have to find a foreign race for him to compete and there are not that many left," said acting Malaysian Athletic Union general manager S. Anthonysamy.
Choon Sieng is not the only Malaysian athlete attempting Olympic qualification over the next few days.
High jumper Lee Hup Wei and hurdler Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian will hope to improve on their performances at the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix series in Bangkok on Tuesday when the second leg takes place in Kanchanaburi today.
Hup Wei, who has won five legs of the Asian GP since 2009 and placed second once, missed out on a bronze medal on countback in Bangkok when he only managed to clear 2.19m as Sri Lanka's W. P. Majula Kumara edged Keyvan Ghanbarzade of Iran to gold with a 2.23m effort.
Rayzam, bronze medalist in the Asian GP in 2008, placed fifth in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.01 seconds, far behind the winner Almandeel Abdulaziz of Kuwait who clocked 13.58.
Hup Wei needs to clear 2.28m while Rayzam, who set a personal best of 13.81 at the Australian Open last month, has to clock 13.60 to qualify for London.
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