KUALA LUMPUR: Walks coach V. Subramaniam hopes there will be no blunder by technical officials in the Malaysian Track and Field Championships which begin tomorrow at Bukit Jalil.
He urges the officials to do their job properly and not make athletes do an extra lap in the men's and women's 20,000m walk which will be held simultaneously.
"I have one request to the officials in charge of the men's and women's 20,000m walk which will be run together at 7am (today). Make sure they don't make the same blunder like what happened at the Malaysia Games last September," he said.
Subramaniam has good reason to be concerned. At the Malaysia Games, the blundering officials let nine walkers walk an extra lap in the women's 5,000m and as a result, they clocked slower times.
Subramaniam said if the officials make a hash of today's race, no Malaysian walkers will qualify for the Phnom Penh Sea Games in May.
Subramaniam's trainee, Norliana Rusni, a mother of two, is also making an attempt to qualify for the women's 20,000km walk in the Sea Games after a 12-year absence. The army corporal featured in two Sea Games: in 2009 Vientiane and in 2011 Palembang.
The two-day meet is the last competition for Malaysian athletes to qualify for the Sea Games.
Norliana, 32, who has a personal best of 1'45:04, needs to beat the Sea Games qualifying time of 1'56:07.
"I last represented Malaysia in the Asian Race in Nomi City in 2015, but I never gave up walking as I still continue to train and walk in domestic events.
"I believe I can still represent Malaysia for the third time in the Sea Games. My aim in the competition (today) is to win gold and also clock a decent time and qualify for Sea Games.
"I may be 32, but I believe that I can beat the youngsters to finish on top of the podium. Coach Subra has been a great help in training me, and he believes that I have a chance to shine in the competition."
Subramaniam, 73, said he has been coaching Norliana for the last nine years but she left training half way to join the army.
"Although she is already 32, I admire her for her efforts in trying to clock below one hour 56 minutes to be on the plane to Cambodia," he said.