Singapore’s Thiruben Thana Rajan successfully breaks 800m record at the Asian Athletics Championships after 38 years

SOUTH KOREA: The long-standing national record for the men’s 800-m event at the Asian Athletics Championships was broken after 38 years by Singaporean athlete Thiruben Thana Rajan with a final time of 1:49.94.

In Gumi, South Korea, the athlete’s historic performance defeated the record set by Sinnathambi Pandian at the 7th Asian Track and Field Championships in 1987.

With his achievement, the 24-year-old athlete expressed: “Everything fell into place for me today and I achieved exactly what I set out to do, which was to break the national record and be the first Singaporean under 1:50.” 

He added: “I’m proud of the fearless race I ran, pushing aggressively from the start.” 

In a social media post by Rajan using Singapore Athletics’ account, the athlete proudly shared his historical win with a caption: “NATIONAL RECORD 🇸🇬 … As many in the athletics community know, I’ve been managing the Singapore Athletics social media pages since 2023 as part of my full-time role overseeing marketing and sponsorships for the association…. After writing countless national record posts for my Team Singapore teammates over the past two years, it’s a surreal feeling to finally be writing one… for myself.”

He added: “Today (30 May 2025), at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, I clocked 1:49.94 in the 800 Heats. This timing broke the long-standing Men’s 800m National Record of 1:50.56 set by S. Pandian in 1987. I also became the first Singaporean ever to dip below 1:50 in the two-lap event. S. Surendra had also previously run a hand-timed 1:49.9 in 1983… My previous best was 1:51.28, set just a month ago at the Singapore Open.”

“I am very appreciative and grateful to my coaches Khairyll Amri and Hamkah Afik and to my training group at @oldham.athletics for being in my corner every step of the way… Let’s keep going.”

Netizens expressed their support to the young athlete in the comments section by saying: “Well done, Thiruben ! You have gone through some valleys and came out stronger! We are immensely proud of you!”, “Solid guy. Hard work paying off bro”, and “Congratulations 👏👏👏👏”

Rajan’s transition from 400 m to 800 m

Rajan admitted that he began training with his current coaches, Khairyll Amri and Hamkah Afik, a year ago, when he also had decided to transition from 400 m to 800 m. He is confident that he can beat the world record and declared: “I’ve always had the belief that I am capable of taking down this record. This is certainly not the end goal for me, as this first year in the event was all about recovering from past injuries and getting used to the two laps again.” 

He also stated that he is excited to train and improve his skills for the SEA Games in December.