Pakistan’s fastest female sprinter Tameen Khan is eager to do well at the upcoming Asian Games.
Tameen will participate in the 100m and 200m event in the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8.
While speaking to Geo News in an exclusive interview, Tameen said that she wants to break the national record in 100m and 200m.
The record for 100m is currently held by Naseem Hameed and Sadaf Siddiqui, who both clocked 11.81 seconds. Meanwhile, Najma Parveen holds the record in 200m with 23.69 seconds.
Tameen clinched the gold medal in the National Athletics Championship last year while clocking 11.86 seconds in the 100m event.
“The Asian Games will be a tough event but I will try to qualify for the semi-final and final,” she said.
“During the last Asian Games, the timings of finalists was between 11.2 and 11.6 and I’m hopeful that I will end up in the bracket in the upcoming event,” she added.
Tameen also said that the Asian Games is her first big international event and it is an honour for her to represent her country.
“I train for three to four hours daily. Apart from training on the track, I also spend adequate amount of time in the gym,” she said.
Tameen also said that athletes from other sports “will also produce better results if they get the same support as cricket in Pakistan”.
“Athletes all over the world have coaches, nutritionists, and physios to support them but that is not the case in Pakistan. Our sprints are also not electronically timed in Pakistana while the tracks are also not of the international standard,” Tameen concluded.
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.
