Maldivian athlete Mariyam Ru’ya Ali has set a new junior national record in the women’s 200m sprint.
Ru’ya, a promising sprinter currently training in Jamaica, achieved this remarkable feat in the Jamaica National Championships in Kingston on Sunday, completing the race with an impressive 25.59 seconds.
The previous record in the junior 200m sprint belonged to Ahuna Nizar, who had set the mark of 25.77 seconds during the Maldives Championships.
This is not the first time Ru’ya has left her mark on the track.
In February, Ru’ya broke the then-existing junior record in 60m sprint while representing Maldives at the 10th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Kazakhstan. During the round immediately following Ahuna’s initial record-breaking performance, Ru’ya shattered the record with a completion time of 7.66 seconds. Ahuna finished the race in 7.89 seconds.
In April, she broke the 22-year-old junior national record in the 100m sprint at the ‘Velocity Fest’ in Jamaica.
Ru’ya represented the Maldives in the Commonwealth Games held in Birminghaman international in August of the previous year. Later in October, she took part in the Asian Under-18 Youth Championship in Kuwait.
Ru’ya has demonstrated remarkable progress since her entry into athletics in 2013. Last year, she represented Villa International High School and gained recognition as the best under 19 female athlete at the Makita Junior Championships in Thinadhoo. She was also named as the top female athlete in the Maldivian Grand Prix.