Jayabalan’s last lap, Vallabouy’s new race

2026-03-13 - 00:04

Chief Panther Jayabalan Karuppiah (left) with SEA Games 800m gold medallist Samson Vallabouy, the protege now entrusted to guide the club’s next chapter. (Samson Vallabouy pic) IPOH: At first light the stopwatch clicks beside the track. K Jayabalan stands near the inside lane, shoulders slightly hunched against the cool Ipoh morning, watching teenagers grind through another set of laps. Now and then his voice rises with a simple instruction: lift the knees, lengthen the stride, relax the shoulders. To the youngsters circling the track he is more than a coach. He is mentor, confidant and a gentle disciplinarian — the man who has spent a lifetime teaching them to turn fatigue into rhythm and pressure into purpose. For nearly half a century Panther Athletic Club has produced runners from that training circle. Now, as Jayabalan approaches his 80th birthday in December, he is preparing to step aside. K Jayabalan with his runners during gym training, a familiar ritual that has shaped countless young lives in Ipoh. (K Jayabalan pic) After 48 years as president, the Ipoh stalwart — widely regarded as Malaysia’s oldest active athletics coach — is handing the club to one of his most celebrated proteges: former SEA Games 800m gold medallist Samson Vallabouy. “Forty-eight years is a long race,” Jayabalan says with a soft laugh. “I stayed because I could never walk away from the young runners. “But now I am tired and it is time for younger people to take over. I will still stay on as coach.” Still building tomorrow: K Jayabalan (fifth from left) with a group of Sukma hopefuls, continuing a lifelong mission to nurture Malaysia’s next generation of runners. (K Jayabalan pic) There is no regret in his voice, only the assurance of someone who knows his work has taken root. From waterboy to national coach Jayabalan’s journey in athletics began almost by accident. At 14 he was little more than a waterboy for senior runners training on a dusty field near his home in Ipoh. One afternoon the mercurial Malaysian athletics figure Asir Victor asked the skinny teenager to run a lap. “He watched me go around the 300m track,” Jayabalan recalls. “After that he said he was impressed and told me to come back the next day.” That moment changed everything. Under Victor’s watchful eye the boy who once carried water soon carried himself like a runner. His ability blossomed quickly and, by 1970, Jayabalan had reached a milestone few expected. At the Malaysian Open that year he stunned the crowd by beating his own mentor Victor in the 400 metres, securing qualification for the Bangkok Asian Games. Preparing for the continental stage, he came under the guidance of schoolteacher and former Perak sprinter Ramalingam Suppiah, who also coached Malaysia’s famed track queen M Rajamani. Under Ramalingam, Jayabalan clocked a hand-timed personal best of 47.7 seconds in the 400m, a strong mark for that era. But injuries cut the former Public Works Department technician’s racing career short at 24, denying him a place in the 4x400m relay squad bound for the 1972 Munich Olympics. Rather than drift away from the track, Jayabalan turned to coaching, a move that would influence generations of Malaysian runners. The Panther conveyor belt The Panther story began on March 6, 1978, when a small group of enthusiasts formalised their evening training sessions into a club. They had little more than determination. Members met almost every evening, sharing ideas and pushing one another without structured programmes or proper facilities. Panther Sports Club — Kelab Sukan Harimau Kumbang — was born and later evolved into Panther Athletic Club as its focus settled on track and field. Jayabalan became president in 1980, beginning a stewardship that ensured Panther endured while many once-prominent athletics clubs disappeared. In the 1960s, 70s and early 80s Malaysia’s track scene teemed with organisations such as Jets, Lights, Swift, Kilat, Pakat, Harimau and Prisons. But rising costs, shrinking school programmes and waning parental interest gradually eroded that ecosystem. One by one those clubs faded. Panther survived. It did so with modest resources. Working members paid RM20 annually while students paid RM10. The club had no permanent clubhouse and no dedicated training ground. Running its activities still costs about RM50,000 a year, funds raised through community support, fundraisers and occasional sponsorship. “What we have is belief,” Jayabalan says. “We survive without big budgets because everyone believes in what the club stands for.” That belief produced impressive results. Panther developed Olympians, Asian Games and SEA Games medallists and national record holders. One of its proudest moments came at the 1987 Jakarta SEA Games when Malaysia’s women’s 4x400m relay quartet of Rathna Dewi, Oon Yee Chan, Sajaratuldur Hamzah and Josephine Mary Singarayar surged to gold. Rathna, Oon and Josephine were Panthers, as was reserve Rohayati Omar, while Sajaratuldur trained under JV Jayan. Two decades later another Panther force — Amran Raj, S Thipan, Zaiful Abidin and Zafril Zusaini — repeated the feat by winning the men’s 4x400m relay at the 2007 SEA Games in Korat. The Panther influence continues through the Vallabouy family. Samson’s daughter Shereen, herself a SEA Games gold medallist, holds the Malaysian records in the 400m (outdoor and indoor) and the 200m. Many former runners have also returned as mentors and officials, creating a self-sustaining system. Today Panther’s coaching team includes Jayabalan, former national sprint coach Bala Murugan, former SEA Games walker T Sivakumar and Vallabouy’s wife Josephine Mary, a five-time SEA Games gold medallist, Asian Games medallist and Olympian. The club now has about 133 members, including dozens of promising youngsters. Jayabalan calls the formula simply “that Panther thing”. Passing the baton Among the many runners shaped by Jayabalan, few embody that philosophy better than Vallabouy, who takes over the presidency at the club’s annual general meeting on Saturday. In 1989 the lean middle-distance runner produced one of the most memorable performances in Malaysian track history. At the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, Vallabouy stormed through the 800 metres in 1 minute 48.29 seconds — still among Southeast Asia’s finest middle-distance performances. K. Jayabalan’s 400m victory at the 1970 Malaysian Open (left) and Samson Vallabouy’s emotional celebration after his 800m win at the 1989 SEA Games capture two defining moments in Panther Athletic Club’s story. (K Jayabalan and CH Loh pics) Remarkably, he was not even a full-time sportsman then. Working as a bank employee, Vallabouy balanced his job with rigorous training under Jayabalan’s guidance. “I stand on the shoulders of a giant,” Vallabouy says. “If it wasn’t for Jayabalan, there is no 1:48.29.” As he prepares to lead Panther, Vallabouy says the challenge ahead is both daunting and inspiring. “Jayabalan has left the club in good shape,” he says. “But the next chapter must be about building stronger systems.” His priorities include improving the coaching programme, expanding the development pipeline and securing sustainable sponsorship. The women’s 4x400m gold medallists from the 1987 SEA Games (top) and the men’s 4x400m champions in 2007 — two Malaysian relay triumphs powered by Panther Athletic Club. “Sponsorship is not a luxury — it is survival,” he says. “We need partners who believe in community sport and youth development.” Matching Jayabalan’s achievements may be impossible, he admits. “But honouring his methods is how we try. “He taught me to run when my legs were tired and to lead when my voice shook. Taking this role is my way of repaying a debt I can never fully settle.” Jayabalan expresses quiet confidence in the transition. “Samson is a son of this club,” he says. “I proposed him because he understands what made the club strong: hard work, humility and respect.” For the veteran coach, the most meaningful victories were never confined to the stopwatch. “Records are numbers,” he says. “People are not.” As the morning session winds down, the young runners gather around him for one last instruction. Jayabalan’s stride may be shorter now and his voice softer, but his presence still anchors the track. The Panthers have always been more than a club. They are a relay. For nearly 50 years, Jayabalan ran the longest leg. Now the baton passes.