Malaysian Para Athletes Bring Glory To The Country Once Again On The World Stage

Rio Paralympics gold medalists Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli and Abdul Latif Romly have done the nation proud once again at the World Para Athletics Championships 2017 in London, England.

On Saturday, shot putter Ziyad broke his own world record of 16.84m set in Rio last year with an opening throw of 17.29m at the men’s shot putt F20 event.

The 27-year-old had reclaimed the title he last won in the 2013 edition held in Lyon, France.

Stalin Mosquera from Ecuador took home the silver medal with 16.72m and Todd Hodgetts of Australia, the previous record holder at 15.83m, won the bronze medal with 15.95m.

Another amazing feat is that Ziyad will also be competing for gold at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games next month alongside able-bodied athletes!

In another track and field event, Abdul Latif leapt 7.37m and emerged victorious at the men’s long jump T20 on Sunday.

The 2016 National Sportsman of the Year award also managed to beat his own championship record of 7.35m set in Doha, Qatar in 2015 in which he also bagged gold.

Talic Zoran of Croatia, who was also second place at the Rio Paralympics last year, took silver with 7.32m and Ukraine’s Dmytro Prudnikov took home bronze with 7.12m.

Like Ziyad, Abdul Latif will also be contending at the upcoming Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

Meanwhile, in other events, Ridzuan Puzi advanced to the men's T36 200m finals after finishing third in his heat with a record of 25.39 seconds.

Nasharuddin Mohamed set a new record in Asia in the men's T20 400m to hit the finals in 50.03 seconds, while Saifuddin Ishak finished seventh in the men's T12 long jump final in 6.08m.