KHON KAEN: Paralympic champion Pongsakorn Paeyo's old school coach has praised him for the hard work and determination that earned him Thailand's first gold medal at the Tokyo Games while setting a new world record.
Sakol Thapsombat was wheelchair athlete Pongsakorn's first trainer, when he was at Srisangwan School in Khon Kaen province.
Sakol said his protege's success in setting a new world time when winning a gold medal at Tokyo came as no surprise. Pongsakorn had shown the skill and dedication needed to be a winner since he was a student.
The 24-year-old wheelchair racer on Sunday not only retained his 400m T53 title with a time of 46.61 seconds, but also broke Canadian Brent Lakatos' world mark of 46.82 set in June 2019.
He began training in the racing wheelchair at Srisangwan, his childhood school, when he was 11 years old. Two years later the school sent him to the national sports competition in Sukhotai in 2009, and he came back with two gold medals.
That was the start. He was later sent to train in Bangkok as a national wheelchair racer and became one of the most successful paralympians in the country.
"I am very proud of this student. He is an inspiration for other students at the school to follow his example," Sakol said.
Pongsakorn, who was born with his disability, said before the Thai team left for Tokyo that his goal was to set a world record in the 400m race, after a recent strong showing in national and international competition.
The Sports Association for the Disabled of Thailand saluted him on his historic victory on Sunday.
"Getting the gold medal is great. But the greatest (achievement) is to break the world record," the associations said. "Thank you for giving all Thais smiles, hope and happiness."