PARIS — Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli’s failure to secure the F20 men’s shot put gold (intellectual disability) raises doubts about whether the Malaysian contingent in Paris can achieve their target of four gold medals.
The Malaysian contingent at the Paris 2024 Paralympics faces a daunting challenge in realising the four-gold target, which would bring their total Paralympic golds to 10 after winning three each in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
So far, Malaysia has claimed one gold medal through shuttler Cheah Liek Hou in the men’s singles badminton.
He triumphed over Indonesia’s Suryo Nugroho with a score of 21-13, 21-15 at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena on Monday.
Realistically, Malaysia’s hopes now rest on T20 men’s long jump champion Datuk Abdul Latif Romly and powerlifting champion Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, who will compete this Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Additionally, the contingent hopes for miracles from other athletes to meet their medal target.
Earlier, Ziyad secured a silver medal with a throw of 17.18m, finishing behind Ukrainian Oleksandr Yarovyi, who set a new world record with a 17.61m throw to claim gold.
Meanwhile, two other national athletes, Muhammad Ammar Aiman Nor Azmi and Muhammad Nazmi Nasri, fell short of medal success at the Stade de France.
Ammar finished fourth in the T20 men’s 400m event (intellectual disability) with a time of 48.38s, while Nazmi placed fifth in the T37 men’s long jump event (physical disability) with a jump of 6m on his second attempt.
Today, hopes also rest on the archery competition, where national archery champion S. Suresh will face Eric Bennett from the United States in the 1/16 men’s recurve elimination round.
Suresh, who defeated Eric to win the 2019 World Championship title in the Netherlands, is expected to progress further in the competition.
In addition to Liek Hou’s gold and Ziyad’s silver, Malaysia also secured a bronze through Eddy Bernard in the T44 men’s 100m event (physical disability) last Sunday. — September 4, 2024