Full focus: Ziyad Zolkefli in action during the F20 shott putt final. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Ziyad Zolkefli can now rest and sleep easy.
The 34-year-old erased the dark episode from the Tokyo Paralympics that has haunted him for the last three years by claiming the silver medal in the men’s F20 (intellectual disability) shot putt event in Paris on Tuesday.
In the last Paralympics in Tokyo, Ziyad was forced to return empty-handed despite recording a world record attempt of 17.94m in the final round.
The organisers in Tokyo acted on a complaint from the Ukraine camp that Ziyad had arrived three minutes late for the event and decided to strip him of the gold medal. He was classified did not start.
Taking a cue from the incident, Ziyad arrived 20 minutes early to the call room at the Stade de France before starting the competition.
He confirmed his silver medal placing after his third attempt yielded 17.18m.
The reigning world champion para athlete tried in vain to improve on his position but had to settle for silver as Ukrainian Oleksandr Yarovyi proved to be too good this time.
The 25-year-old, who was beaten by Ziyad in the world meet two months ago, broke the world record twice, with his fourth attempt of 17.61m turning out to be the winning distance.
Teammate Maksym Koval, who previously held the world record of 17.34m from the Tokyo Paralympics, settled for bronze with a throw of 16.99m.
Ziyad was a bit disappointed not to recapture the gold medal but he was still satisfied to be back on the podium after eight years.
Ziyad now has a complete set of Paralympic medals, having taken bronze in the London edition in 2012 before stepping up to gold in Rio de Janeiro four years later.
“Alhamdulillah, silver is better than nothing at all. I have high hopes for a gold medal as I felt good coming to Paris but I don’t feel disappointed because I had given my best earlier.
“The story that haunted me (the incident in Tokyo) is finally over.
‘‘It’s a relief because that moment has haunted me for the past three years until I was depressed.
“I can now sleep easy,” said the Selangor-born Ziyad, who will be rewarded with RM300,000 and a monthly pension of RM3,000 for his silver feat under the National Sports Council incentive scheme.
Ziyad is determined to continue till the 2028 edition in Los Angeles, aiming to bring home the gold medal for Malaysia.
“I never thought about pension anymore.
‘‘Maybe I will compete again for the next Paralympic Games and depending on my body condition, to try to do my best,” added Ziyad, who dedicated the silver medal he won to his father Zolkefli Othman who celebrated his 70th birthday on Sunday.
Reigning world champion Mohd Nazmi Nasri missed out on a medal in his Paralympics debut after finishing fifth in the men’s long jump event T37 (physical disability), recording his best jump at 6.00m on his second attempt.
The gold medal in the event was claimed by Argentina’s Brian Lionel Impellizzeri with 6.42m while silver went to Samson Opiyo of Kenya (6.20m) and bronze was secured by Mateus Evangelista Cardoso of Brazil (6.20m).
Mohd Ammar Aiman Nor Azmi’s hopes of a medal in the T20 men’s 400m event were dashed after he was pipped by Yovani Philippe from Mauritius in the last 10m.
The 22-year-old Paralympics debutant clocked 48.38s as Philippe accelerated past him to nick the bronze in 48.30s.
Jhon Sebastian Obando Asprilla from Colombia raced away with the gold medal after clocking 48.09s while David Jose Pineda Mejia from Spain took silver with a time of 48.24s.
