Abdul Latif Romly of Malaysia in action in the men’s long jump. – REUTERS
PETALING JAYA: Abdul Latif Romly sustained an injury but did enough to retain his men’s long jump T20 title and help Malaysia achieve its three-gold medal target at the Tokyo Paralympics on Saturday.
The Paralympics and world-record holder opened his account with a conservative 7.26m effort to immediately go into the lead at the Olympic Stadium.
Latif, who is intellectually impaired, then turned up the heat a notch with a 7.45m leap in his second attempt but fell slightly shorter at 7.24m in his third.
Latif’s were unsuccessful in the fourth and fifth attempts.
He landed awkwardly in the fifth attempt and appeared to have suffered a groin injury.
The 24-year-old was immediately ushered into a wheelchair by the medical crew and did not return for his sixth attempt.
His 7.45m best effort, however, was good enough to secure him the gold.
Greece’s Athanasios Prodromou (7.17m) and Australian Nicholas Hum (7.12m) claimed silver and bronze respectively
With no Malaysians in action on the final day of the competition today, the national contingent ends the Tokyo Paralympics with three golds and two silvers.
Besides Latif, the other two golds were delivered by Bonnie Bunyau Gustin (powerlifting) and Cheah Liek Hou (badminton) while the two silvers came from Jong Yee Khie (powerlifting) and Chew Wei Lun (boccia).
Source: The Star
