By Amiril Muttaqien Meketar
PARIS: The failure of Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli to bring home the F20 men’s shot put gold (intellectual disability) raises a question as to whether the target of four gold medals can be achieved by the Malaysian contingent in Paris.
The Malaysian contingent competing in the Paris 2024 Paralympics will certainly face a tough task in realizing the four-gold target and the dream of completing 10 golds in total after having won (six) namely three golds at Rio 2016 and three more at the Tokyo 2020 edition.
Malaysia has so far won one gold medal from badminton through shuttler Cheah Liek Hou from the men’s singles at the prestigious sporting event here by defeating Indonesia’s Suryo Nugroho, 21-13, 21-15, at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, yesterday.
Realistically, Malaysia can pin its hopes on T20 men’s long jump champion (intellectual disability) Datuk Abdul Latif Romly and powerlifting champion Bonnie Bunyau Gustin who will each compete this Friday and Saturday respectively and at the same time hope for miracles from other athletes to achieve the target.
Earlier, Muhammad Ziyad managed a throw of 17.18 meters (m) to win the silver medal behind Ukrainian Oleksandr Yarovyi who set a new world record of 17.61m for gold.
Meanwhile, two other national athletes, Muhammad Ammar Aiman Nor Azmi and Muhammad Nazmi Nasri were unable to embody the lustre of the medals at the Stade de France.
Muhammad Ammar Aiman managed fourth position in the men’s 400m event T20 (intellectual disability) with a time of 48.38 seconds (s) and Muhammad Nazmi finished the men’s long jump event T37 (physical disability) in fifth position with a jump of 6.00m on his second attempt.
Hopes also hinge in archery competition tomorrow as the country’s archery champion S. Suresh will be competing in the elimination round of the 1/16 men’s recurve against Eric Bennett from the United States.
Suresh who had defeated Eric en route to winning the 2019 world championship title in the Netherlands, will be expected to get past the elimination round to progress further in the competition.
In addition to Liek Hou’s gold and Muhammad Ziyad’s silver, the national contingent also won a bronze through Eddy Bernard in the men’s 100m event T44 (physical disability), last Sunday.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Ziyad was relieved that the dark episode that had haunted him at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games did not repeat itself in the Paris 2024 edition.
Though he missed out on a gold medal achievement at the Paralympic Games this time, Muhammad Ziyad said what was important for him is to be able to get back on the podium after missing out on a similar opportunity in Tokyo despite going into the competition as the defending champion after being crowned champion in Rio 2016.
“For me, the expectations were high for the gold medal, but I don’t feel very disappointed because I tried and gave my best. Most importantly, I was able to overcome the episode that had haunted me since 2020. I proved it with a silver medal, it’s like a dream,” he told Bernama after his event, here yesterday.
In Tokyo, Muhammad Ziyad who had successfully defended the gold medal that he had won in Rio 2016, was unceremoniously penalised for allegedly reporting late to the call room before his event had started and the result was overturned.
The 34-year-old athlete won the silver medal in Paris 2024 after recording a distance of 17.18 metres (m) behind Ukraine’s Oleksandr Yarovyi who grabbed the gold and set a new world record with 17.61m while his teammate and defending champion Maksym Koval settled for bronze (16.99m).
In the meantime, Muhammad Ziyad said he had arrived 20 minutes early to the call room at the Stade de France to avoid the bitter experience of Tokyo 2020 from happening again.
“I have never thought about retiring again, maybe I will compete again for the next Paralympic Games and depending on the condition of my body at that time to try and do my best,” he said.
Muhammad Ziyad also dedicated the silver medal he won to his father Zolkefli Othman who celebrated his 70th birthday on Sept 1.
When asked about his next plan, he said he wants to rest for a while and spend time with his family when he returns home.
Following is the final medal tally on the sixth day:
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| China | 53 | 40 | 22 |
| Great Britain | 30 | 18 | 13 |
| USA | 20 | 22 | 11 |
| Brazil | 14 | 11 | 23 |
| France | 11 | 12 | 15 |
| Italy | 10 | 8 | 17 |
| Ukraine | 9 | 15 | 21 |
| Australia | 9 | 9 | 14 |
| Netherlands | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| Uzbekistan | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| …Malaysia | 1 | 1 | 1 |
– BERNAMA
