KUALA LUMPUR: Paralympic sprinter Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi created history by winning the 100m T36 (cerebral palsy) gold medal at the IPC World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar today.
The 28-year old who had clocked 12.01 seconds to qualify for the final at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium yesterday to improve his time clocked at the Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea in 2014, registered 12.08s to win the gold today.
Mohamad Ridzuan, the Asian Para Games silver medalist had improved the Asian Para Games record of 12.38 seconds held by the late Mohamad Azlan Mat Lazin earlier. During the Asian Para Games, Mohamad Ridzuan clocked the same time as Mohamad Azlan and the gold medal winner had to be decided via a photo finish.
Mohd Ridzuan’s gold medal was the second for Malaysia after Latiff Romly had clinched the gold in the T20 long jump on Saturday.
The silver medal went to Evgenii Torsunov from Russia with a time of 12.17s while Roman Pavlyk from Ukraine finished third on 12.35s.
Meanwhile, Siti Noor Iasah Mohamad Ariffin booked her place in the women’s 400m T20 final after winning Heat 3 with a time of 1:00.43s.
The time clocked by Siti was not only her personal best but also better than the Asian Para Games record of 1:01.33s set by her at the Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea last year.
The final will be held tomorrow (10.55pm Malaysian time). -- Bernama