Wassana Winatho

Wassana Winatho (Thai: วาสนา วินาโท; born 30 June 1980, in Prachinburi), also known as Amornrat Winatho and Vassanee Vinatho, is a Thai track and field athlete who specialises in the heptathlon and the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Thailand at the 2008 Summer Olympics and competed at five consecutive editions of the Asian Games (1998 to 2014).[1]

Wassana Winatho
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Thailand
Asian Indoor Games
Gold medal – first place2009 HanoiPentathlon
Asian Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place2006 PattayaPentathlon
Silver medal – second place2008 DohaPentathlon
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place2011 KobeHeptathlon
Gold medal – first place2013 PuneHeptathlon
Bronze medal – third place2003 Manila400 hurdles
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place1999 BruneiHeptathlon
Gold medal – first place2001 Kuala Lumpur400 m
Gold medal – first place2001 Kuala Lumpur400 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place2005 Manila400 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place2007 KoratHeptathlon
Gold medal – first place2007 Korat400 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place2007 Korat4×400 m relay
Gold medal – first place2009 VientianeHeptathlon
Gold medal – first place2009 Vientiane4×400 m relay
Gold medal – first place2011 PalembangHeptathlon
Gold medal – first place2013 NaypyidawHeptathlon
Gold medal – first place2013 Naypyidaw400 m hurdles
Silver medal – second place2003 Hanoi400 m hurdles
Silver medal – second place2005 Manila4×400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2009 Vientiane400 m hurdles
Silver medal – second place2011 Palembang400 m hurdles
Bronze medal – third place2003 Hanoi4×400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place2011 Palembang100 m hurdles
Bronze medal – third place2015 Singapore400 m hurdles
Bronze medal – third place2017 Kuala LumpurHeptathlon

Having won medals internationally in combined events, sprints, hurdles and relays, she is widely regarded as the most versatile athlete in Southeast Asia.[2] She is the current Thai record holder in the heptathlon and women's pentathlon, as well as having a share in the 4×400 metres relay record. Winatho has been particularly successful at the Southeast Asian Games, where her achievement include three heptathlon titles, three 400 m hurdles title, and a haul of three golds at the 2007 Games (with a heptathlon Games record of 5889 points). At the continental level, she has won pentathlon medals at the Asian Indoor Games and the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships.

Career

Winatho won her first junior medals at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships, twice finishing as runner-up to Irina Naumenko in 1997 and 1999 in the heptathlon.[3] She made her senior debut at the 1998 Asian Games and she narrowly missed out on a medal, scoring 5630 points for fourth place.[4] She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 1999 Southeast Asian Games and won a 400 metres/400 m hurdles double at the following edition in 2001.[5] She was fifth in the 400 m hurdles at the 2002 Asian Games.[6]

The 2003 Afro-Asian Games provided her an opportunity to compete against top African opposition. Winatho was her region's best performer in the 400 m – taking the bronze medal behind Estie Wittstock and Doris Jacob – and won a second bronze in the 400 m hurdles.[7][8] Another hurdles bronze came at the 2003 Asian Athletics Championships in Manila.[9] Her final competition of the year was the 2003 Southeast Asian Games. Her attempt to retain her titles failed as she did not start the 400 m final, but she won silver in the 400 m hurdles behind Malaysia's Noraseela Mohd Khalid and anchored the Thai women's 4×400 metres relay team to the bronze medal.[10]

Making her fourth straight appearance at the regional event, Winatho took a clear victory in the 400 m hurdles at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in November.[11] She also helped the Thai women to second place in the relay. The following February she entered the indoor pentathlon at the 2006 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships on home turf in Pattaya. She saw off challenges from Olga Rypakova and Liu Haili to claim the title with a competition record of 4431 points.[12] The 2006 Asian Games saw her come fourth in the 400 m hurdles, beaten to the bronze by Mohd Khalid.[13]

She failed to finish the pentathlon at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games, but still won a medal in the relay, anchoring home the Thai team to a national indoor record of 3:38.25 minutes. Winatho won an unprecedented triple at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games held in Nakhon Ratchasima. She won golds for Thailand in the 400 m hurdles and the 400 m relay, but her best performance came in the heptathlon. Setting personal bests in every discipline but the 100 metres hurdles, she significantly improved upon her best with a total of 5889 points for a Thai and Games record. This was also the Olympic "B" standard, enabling her to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[14]

Winatho produced a pentathlon best and national record of 4184 points at the 2008 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, but she was pushed into second place in the final 800 metres event, ending up with the silver behind Irina Naumenko.[15] She made her debut on the world stage at the Beijing Olympics in August, but she did not manage to finish the event and dropped out in the third round.[16] She returned to regional success the year after, taking the pentathlon title at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games.[17] She also came close to a triple defence at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games, taking the heptathlon and relay titles, but she was outrun by her Malaysian rival Mohd Khalid in the hurdles.[18] Her appearance in the heptathlon at the 2010 Asian Games was cut short after she fell in the 100 m hurdles and did not finish the competition.[19][20]

In addition to her international medals, she has won numerous times at the Thailand National Games, including a heptathlon and 400 m hurdles double at the 2006 Thailand National Games, a 100 m hurdles/400 m hurdles/heptathlon triple at the 2007 Thailand National Games, and an individual title in the long jump in 2010.[6]

In 2011 SEA Games in Palembang, Winatho clinched her tenth gold medal after winning the heptathlon, scoring 5448 points. However, an attempt to add another gold in 400 meter hurdles was prevented by the event specialist Noraseela Mohd Khalid of Malaysia. She clocked a season best of 58.97s.[21]

At the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar, Winatho won the gold in the 400 meter hurdles in dramatic fashion, overtaking Quach Thi Lan in the final 5 meters, and also won another heptathlon gold. However, her final attempt to win a medal in the Asian Games women's heptathlon, at the 2014 Games in Incheon, was also cut short, this time withdrawing between the shot put and the 200 meters events due to a knee injury.[22]

Winatho returned to winning ways at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, by claiming a bronze medal in the heptathlon, before retiring.

References
  1. Wassana Winatho. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  2. Washif, Jad Adrian (2011-11-16). SEA Games see records tumble; Thailand remains dominant. IAAF. Retrieved on 18 November 2011.
  3. Asian Junior Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  4. Daily Results of Asian Games XIII. People China. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  5. Southeast Asian Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  6. Wassanee Winatho. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  7. Weerawansa, Dinesh (2003-10-23). Gold honours shared – Afro-Asian Games Athletics, Day One. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  8. Weerawansa, Dinesh (2003-10-30). Ethiopian distance runners and Nigerian sprinters dominate – Afro-Asian Games – Last day. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  9. Shaheen silver again; Al Sabee uncorks a 8.23m leap – Asian Championships – Day 4, Final Day. IAAF (2003-09-23). Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  10. Thais assess their hold on power – South East Asian Games, Final Day. IAAF (2003-12-12). Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  11. Chua Chong Jin & Kevin Goh (2005-11-29). Thais bounce back: SEA Games, Day 3. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  12. Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2006-02-11). Thai women sweep sprint medals – Asian Indoor champs Day 1 report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  13. 2006 Asian Games. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  14. Robinson, Javier Clavelo (2007-12-17). Winatho’s 5889pts Heptathlon seals her third gold – SEA Games, Final Day. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  15. Negash, Elshadai (2008-02-15). Championship records fall on solid day for Kazakhstan – Asian Indoor Championships Day 1. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  16. Athletics – Beijing 2008 / Heptathlon Overall – Women. Eurosport. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  17. Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2009-10-31). Li Ling's vault victory and Huong's 60m triumph highlight opening day of Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  18. 2009 Southeast Asian Games. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2011-065-08.
  19. Amornrat Winatho of Thailand falls during the women's 100m hurdles heptathlon at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou. Eurosport. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  20. WINATHO Amornrat – Biography. Guangzhou 2010. Retrieved on 2011-05-08.
  21. Jad Adrian Washif (2011-11-16). SEA Games see records tumble; Thailand remains dominant. IAAF. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  22. เศร้า! วาสนาเข่าบิดถอนตัว สัตกรีฑา ปิดฉากเอเชียนเกมส์. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
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