Yu Fang has the last laugh

28/07/1997

RACING against time, V. Subramaniam, coach for national walking champion
Annastasia Karen Raj requested the Malaysia Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU)
to allow his protege to compete in the men's 10km walk event at the
Malaysian Open last year to enable her to qualify for the Atlanta
Olympics.
The request was rejected.
The International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) had this to say to
Subramanian: "There aren't any provisions in the IAAF rules that allow
women to race with men in any event and that is not going to change it."
So the IAAF made it clear that women are women and they race against
women only.
On Saturday at the first leg of the Milo-MAAU-NSC National Junior
Championships at the KLFA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, a woman runner took on
the men in the 1,500m.
Yuan Yu Fang, a Commonwealth Games trainee, started off with seven men
and finished last in the race.
The organising committee chairman, Datuk Khalid Yunus was lost for words
when Yu Fang kept up the pace in the first lap and ran past him in front
of the official desk at the grand stand area.
However, one of the officials explained that the Chinese-born athlete
was "just testing her strength" among the men runners.
"She is not supposed to run, there were no provisions for her to test
her strength, moreover she is overaged, this meet is for the juniors. What
is she doing is a mockery of an official championships," said a technical
official.
Technical official S. Vegiyathuman, unaware of Yu Fang's presence until
the second lap said: "I cannot stop the event but this is not logical."
Yu Fang, under the National Sports Council (NSC) Commonwealth Games
training project, finished last in 4:24.6. The event was won by Selangor's
Geevaraj in of 4:14.3.
Yu Fang, 27, is one of the gold medal hopefuls at the Jakarta Sea Games.
She started off as a runner, making a clean sweep in the 1,500, 3,000 and
10,000m at the National Championships in Kangar last year.
Representing Perlis, she switched to the walk event and won the women's
10,000m gold at the Amcorp-National Championships last year, beating
Annastasia in her pet event.
She even broke the national record of 45:47.01 by .01 seconds, but her
record did not stand as the meet was not a recognised.
Yu Fang was called to the winners rostrum where she received a bouquet
from former national sprints queen Mumtaz Jaafar for her effort.
(END)