Puripol Boonson

Puripol Boonson (Thai: ภูริพล บุญสอน, born 13 January 2006) is a Thai sprinter who specializes in the 100 and 200 metres. He is the first Southeast Asian sprinter to break the 10-second barrier with a SEA Games record of 9.94 seconds set in 2025 on home soil.

Puripol's first exploits came during the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam where he clinched golds in the 100m, 200m, and 4 × 100 m relay events.

On 3 June 2022, he established in Yecheon the National record of 4 × 100 m in 38.56 s with Chayut Khongprasit, Siripol Punpa and Soraoat Dapbang.

With a national record of 20.19 s (+1.7 m/s) run in Almaty (KAZ) on 26 June 2022, he realised the AU20R and AU18R. Becoming the third-best youth performance ever, trailing only Erriyon Knighton and Usain Bolt.

This stellar performance earned him a ticket to the 2022 World Athletics Championships, but the Thai Athletics Federation opted to save him for the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships.

On 2 August 2022, he broke the under-18 World's Best Performance of the 100 m with 10.09 s (+0.7 m/s) at the semi-finals of the 2022 World Athletics U20 championships in Cali (Christian Miller of the U.S. recently edged out this record in July 2023, finishing in 10.06 seconds.). He finishes fourth of the final with 10.12 s (+0.8 m/s)

In the unfortunate turn of events at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games, Boonson suffered a hamstring injury during the 200 meters final. This setback forced him to withdraw from the competition, subsequently sidelining him from the 2023 Asian U20 Athletics Championships.

Returning to the track gradually after his injury, in July 2023, at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, Boonson competed in the 4 × 100 m relay event, winning the gold medal with a time of 38.55 seconds. This outstanding performance not only set a new national record, but also a new championship record.

On 30 September 2023, he competed in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, during the 100m semi-final, he matched the under-18 World Best Performances he had lost earlier in the year, clocking in at 10.06 seconds. In the final, he achieved the silver with a time of 10.02 seconds, although the wind was too favourable for his record to be officially recognized.^[2]

Concerned about a recurrence of his injury, Boonson, despite qualifying for the 200m semi-finals, only covered a few meters before withdrawing from the race. He chose to conserve himself for the 4 × 100 m relay.^[3]

In the relay final, he finished in 4th place with a time of 38.81 seconds, just seven hundredths of a second shy of the bronze medal claimed by South Korea.

On May 4, he competes with his team in the 4 × 100 m relay event at the World Relays in Nassau, hoping to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games, but they fail to do so, funding 5th in the second qualifying round.

On June 15, at the Thai Athletics Championships, he takes first place in the 100 m with a time of 10.17 seconds.

With his many races in the United States, Boonson qualifies for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris over 100 m, being ranked 47^e in the World Ranking.

He is named flag bearer for the Thai delegation at the 2024 Summer Olympics,^[4] alongside 12-year-old skateboarder Vareeraya Sukasem.^[5]

At the Paris Olympics, he achieves automatic qualification in the heats by finishing 3rd in 10.13 seconds, behind Jamaican Oblique Seville and Japan's Abdul Hakim Sani Brown. He failed to reach the final, finishing last in his semi-final in 10.14 seconds.^[6]

At the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, he wins the 100m silver medal in 10.22 seconds (-0.9).^[7]

With this achievement, he becomes the first Thai athlete to win a medal in this category.^[8]

In the final of the 4 × 100 m relay, although the Thai team was second to last when Puripol Boonson received the baton, he made a spectacular comeback to take third place, beating the French team by four hundredths. Owing to this performance, Thailand won the bronze medal in 39.39 seconds, setting a new U20 national record.^[9]

In May, at the World Relays held at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, the Thai team finished fifth in its second qualifying round.

A few weeks later, at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, he won the silver medal in the 100-meter dash in 10.20, ahead of Japan's Hiroki Yanagita.^[10] He also won a second silver medal with the Thai 4 × 100 m relay team, which finished in 38 s 78, beaten by hosts South Korea, who set a new championship record of 38 s 49 (the previous record, 38 s 55, had been set by Thailand).

At the 2025 Summer World University Games, Boonson is the favorite in the 100-meter race, alongside his main rival Bayanda Walaza, 2024 world champion. He won the silver medal in 10 s 22, behind Walaza.^[11] He also took part in the final of the 4 × 100 m relay, in which Thailand finished fifth.

At the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, he was eliminated in the semifinals of the 100 meters, finishing second to last in his heat with a time of 10.17 seconds.

On December 11, during the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, he broke the 10-second barrier in the 100-meter dash for the first time in his career, clocking in at 9.94 seconds. This performance made him the first Southeast Asian athlete to run under 10 seconds and placed him fifth in the all-time junior rankings for the distance, tied with Bayanda Walaza. He then won the 100-meter final in 10.00 seconds.

A few days later, he won the gold medal in the 200 meters with a time of 20.07 seconds, before also winning the 4 × 100-meter relay in 38.28 seconds. Both performances set new national records^[12].

Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

• World Athletics Continental Tour
  • 2022 (200 m): XXXII Qosanov Memorial
  • 2024 (100 m): XXXIII Qosanov Memorial
  • 2025 (100 m): The 3rd Belt and Road Athletics Invitational Meeting

• Puripol Boonson at World Athletics
• Puripol Boonson at Olympics.com
• Puripol Boonson at Olympedia
• Puripol Boonson at InterSportStats