Just Chit Chat Lah
Ep 3 – Malaysian 2016 Rio Paralympics Medalists
I spoke to the bunch that won Malaysia a whole bag of medals and a couple of world records at the 2016 Rio Paralympics!
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I also wrote a text article on my interview with the medalists for My Malaysia!
We are the champions!
By Zan Azlee
After their triumphant performance at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, we check in with Malaysia’s Paralympic medallists and their head coach.
If only one story could lift the spirits of our nation, this would be it. While Malaysians were still reeling from the missed opportunities of winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games last August, a small group of young athletes brought everybody to their feet again.
We’re talking about our national Paralympics contingent, who not only took home three gold medals and a bronze in September’s Rio 2016 Paralympic Games – they also set a handful of world and Asian records. To refresh your memory, Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi, Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli and Abdul Latif Romly each won gold in their respective categories: men’s 100m sprint (T36), men’s shot put (F20) and men’s long jump (T20), with Muhammad Ziyad and Abdul Latif setting world records with their performance. Meanwhile, Siti Noor Radiah Ismail’s third-place win in the women’s long jump (T20) saw the athlete simultaneously break her Asia Para Games 2014 record.
“When we first landed in Rio de Janeiro, no one gave us a second glance. But once we started winning and breaking world records, that’s when people started respecting us,” notes National Paralympics head coach for athletics, Jeganathan Ramasamy, or better known as Coach Jega.
Back home, Malaysians were suddenly paying attention to our national Paralympians who became household names overnight. However, the effort and preparations made to get to this stage took a whole lot longer – 15 years to be exact.
“It’s literally taken us 15 years to get to this point. I could not have done this without the excellent work put in by my coaches,” says Coach Jega, who’s headed the Paralympics coaching team since 2001.
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