KARTHIK JAYARAMAN has one goal when he came here in Brunei. That is to bring honour to Melaka.

Karthik proved why he deserved to be in the contingent by winning three gold medals in the 3rd Borneo Games, his first international tournament.

Karthik dominated the 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m and 10,000m - all in record times.

During the opening ceremony of the Games, Melaka contingent chef de mission, Darmawan Samsudin had told The Brunei Times that Karthik was their best bet in delivering the gold medals in the athletics events and he was definitely right about it.

Karthik set a new Borneo Games record in the 5,000m when he crossed the finish line at 15:43.58. He got his second gold by winning the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:37.29.

His third gold medal came in the 10,000m, which was introduced for the first time, when he completed the race with a time of 33:52.49.

"This has been a good competition for me especially that this is the first time I've competed in the Borneo Games.

"I'm really proud and happy to be able to win the three gold medals and setting new records for them," said a delighted Karthik in an interview with The Brunei Times.

"This is a really good platform for me as this is the first time that I've competed outside of the country," said the 20-year-old.

"My aims for coming here was to improve on my personal bests but I managed to get more than that for my state," added Karthik.

The Malaysian recalls that his events were competed in the rain which he believes that he could have produced a better time.

"Before the start of my events, it was raining which affected my performance. I believe that I could have gone faster than that,"said the student at the Universiti Putra Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.

"The runners from the other contingents gave me a very good challenge and I know that this sort of experience and exposure will definitely help me out in future tournaments," said Karthik.

Karthik is a Melaka state runner and is in the process to be named to the Malaysian national team after he achieved the first ranking for national level in the 3,000m steeplechase earlier this year.

With the new records, Karthik is now aiming higher and eyeing to break more records in Malaysian Games (SUKMA) next year and also preparing to represent his university in the next Asean Uni Games (AUG).

Karthik trains twice daily under coach Ramachandran Murusamy, an ex-national runner who holds the record in the 5,000m in the Southeast Asian Games.

Courtesy from Brunei Times