Melinder Kaur, a former national athlete, and five-time Malaysian record holder, broke two world records on Saturday at Arena Sukan Kuala Lumpur in Setapak.

At 5 minutes and 57 seconds, the 36-year-old beat the record for the fastest female one-mile (1.6-kilometer) run while wearing handcuffs. With a timing of 6 minutes and 37 seconds in 2018, Sandra Hickson of Ireland established the previous record.

In addition, she set a world record for the fastest woman to run 1.6 kilometers barefoot. She beat the Guinness World Records standard of 6.5 minutes and 4 seconds with her time of 6 minutes and 4 seconds.

"I'm super happy. I feel very satisfied. I just told myself to do whatever I can and thank God, I managed to clock a good time," she said as quoted by FMT Lifestyle.

"For my second run, I was struggling a bit, but I told myself just run, enjoy, finish the race," she added. 

This evening, her loved ones were there to see her performance. Some of the kids from the Gurpuri Foundation, an NGO that she raises money for with her record attempts, were also present.

Melinder has automatically earned herself another award from the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) for her handcuff accomplishment, adding to the five she already holds, while the results await formal certification by Guinness World Records.

She has completed other MBR challenges in the past, like running a treadmill backward for 12 hours and continuously for 25 hours.

Melinder had rigorous training specifically designed to meet the challenges of sprinting while wearing handcuffs in preparation for Saturday's attempt.

Though she had been training independently since December, she recruited the assistance of police officer and former national athlete Shaharudin Hashim as a coach in March.

Before hanging up her spikes, Melinder, a former steeplechase competitor, set four national records in the 3,000-meter event.

Source: FMT