Thai Sprinter Biew Sets Asian 200m Record at 19.88 Seconds
Thai sprinter Biew Phuriphol Bunsoan won gold in the 200 meters at the Asian Games with a time of 19.88 seconds, equaling the Asian record and becoming the first Thai to achieve such dominance since 1974.
Thai sprinter Biew Phuriphol Bunsoan has already broken through the 100-meter barrier below 10 seconds, and now the sprinting star has left competitors in the dust with a dominant 200-meter performance at the Asian Games, capturing gold with a championship record of 19.88 seconds. This is his second Asian Games gold medal and represents another breakthrough, shattering the 20-second ceiling to a new level. He becomes the first Thai athlete since Anati Ratanaphol, who won Asian Games gold in 1974, to achieve this feat. The record marks Biew's second Asian Games record, and at 19.88 seconds, it equals the Asian record held by China's Xie Zhenye, set in 2019, which the competition report notes as EAR (Equal Asia Record), meaning a shared continental record.
When compared to the 2026 world top list, Biew's 19.88-second time ties him with Australia's Adrian Murphy and Zimbabwe's Sharamba Maganakaiches for 11th place globally. The fastest time of the year belongs to American sprinter Kenneth Bednarek at 19.52 seconds. The current world record remains with Jamaican legend Usain Bolt at 19.19 seconds, placing Biew at an all-time ranking of 77th worldwide. Looking back at the men's 200-meter final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Biew's 19.88-second time would have been good enough for fourth place—behind gold medalist Letsile Tebogo of Botswana (19.46 seconds), silver medalist Kenneth Bednarek of the United States (19.62 seconds), and bronze medalist Noah Lyles of the United States (19.70 seconds), with fourth that day going to American Erriyon Knighton at 19.99 seconds. Keep watching Asia's new Flash to see just how far he can go.
