KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad congratulated two national athletes who set new world records en route to winning gold medals in their respective events at the Asian Para Games 2018 in Jakarta yesterday.
“Congratulations and thank you champions Mohamad Ridzuan Puzi and Abdul Latif Romly for breaking world records in their respective events at the Asian Para Games 2018.
“Hopefully, our athletes will find more success after this #KamiLuarBiasa#MalaysiaBoleh (#We are extraordinary#Malaysia Can),” Dr Mahathir wrote on Twitter.
Mohamad Ridzuan clocked 11.87 seconds in the men’s 100m T36 (cerebral palsy) category, erasing the old record of 11.90s set by Evgenii Shvetcov of Russia in 2013.
Abdul Latif erased his own world record in the men’s long jump T20 (learning disability) category when he leaped 7.64 metres. His previous record of 7.60m was set at the Rio Paralympics 2016 in Brazil.
After the fifth day of competition, Malaysia’s haul is nine gold, 12 silver and 17 bronze.
Malaysia is in eighth place in the medal tally, far behind China which is in top position with 104 gold, 50 silver and 39 bronze.