Louis claims 60m mark, eyes Paris universality berth

When sprinter Marc Louis broke U.K. Shyam's decades-old national 100m mark of 10.37 seconds at the Asian Games last October, it came after more than two years of chasing.

- Deepanraj Ganesan

But Louis, who lowered Shyam's 2001 timing by 0.10sec, wasted little time in claiming another longstanding national record - Gary Yeo's 6.71sec mark in the 60m, which was set in 2012.

On his first attempt at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on March 1, Louis broke the 60m record with aplomb a 6.69sec blitz in heat 4 of round 1, where he finished third behind Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala and Japan's Shuhei Tada, both of whom clocked 6.52.

Louis qualified automatically for the semi-finals, where he clocked 6.73sec to finish last among eight runners in heat 3, with American star Noah Lyles the top finisher in 6.47sec.

Louis said: "I came in just wanting that record and everything else would be a bonus. This was my first time running in an indoor meet and it was a really good experience.