Malaya sprint champion dies from a stroke

Sidique from a picture taken in 2006.

FORMER Malayan sprint champion Sidique Ali Merican died from a stroke at his home in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday.

He was 78.

Sidique, from Kota Baru, leaves behind wife Fatimah Shariff and sons Dr Ezlan and Shazman.

He was laid to rest at the Kampung Tunku Muslim Cemetery in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

Sidique, who had an unusual crouching start position, clocked 10.3 seconds running barefoot in his first maiden 100 yards race at an athletics championship in Kota Baru in 1949.
He then clocked 10.0s in the 100 yards for a new Malayan record in Singapore later that year, which stood until 1958, to emerge as Malayan sprint champion, a title he held until 1954.





His best performances however were clocking 9.8s in the 100 yards and 22.0s in the 200 yards at the Inter-Universities Athletics Championship in England in 1952 while studying at the Loughborough College.

After obtaining a Diploma of Physical Education from the University of Loughborough in 1955, Sidique began a teaching career at the Sultan Ismail College in Kota Baru.

Sidique also had a brief coaching career and was part of the coaching team of the athletics squad at the 1968 Rome Olympics.

Sidique's active involvement in sports saw him appointed as the assistant sports director at the Culture, Youth and Sports Ministry in 1972 and before being promoted as its director-general in 1981. He retired from the civil service in 1985.

As a sports official, Sidique served as the chef-de-mission to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, deputy chef-de-mission to the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games and deputy chef-de-mission to the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi.

He was also the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) assistant honorary secretary from 1974 to 1986 and was inducted into OCM's Hall of Fame in 2002. -- Bernama