[WATCH] Abdul Latif Wins Gold At The Tokyo Paralympic Games Despite Injury
His incredible win also fulfils the Malaysian contingent’s three-gold medal target.
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Saturday evening provided some riveting action with Abdul Latif Romly retaining his men’s long jump T20 title, helping Malaysia achieve its three-gold medal target at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020.
The T20 category is a disability sport classification that broadly covers athletes with intellectual disabilities.
Abdul Latif secured the gold in his 2nd leap attempt at 7.45 m.
His subsequent attempt fell short by .21m, following a failed attempt.
On his 5th attempt, he appeared to have hurt himself and was escorted out in a wheelchair by medical personnel. He did not return for the 6th attempt and could be seen slightly limping at the medal ceremony.
Greece’s Athanasios Prodromou (7.17m) and Australia’s Nicolas Hum (7.12m) came in silver and bronze respectively.
Paralympic and world-record holder
24-year-old Abdul Latif from Kangar, Perlis holds the world record of 7.64m in the category which he set at the 2018 Asia Para Games in Indonesia.
His Paralympic Record was set in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a leap of 7.60m.
He has also competed in the World Para Athletics Championships – Men’s Long Jump T20 where he won Gold in 2015 (Doha), 2017 (London), and Silver in 2019 (Dubai).
Abdul Latif was named the 2016 Sportsman of the Year at the Malaysia Sports Awards. He was the first Para athlete to have received the award.
He first made his athletic debut representing Malaysia in 2014 where he competed in the Asian Para Games in Incheon, Korea.
Saturday’s Paralympic event round-up for Team Malaysia was an overall gripping one with shuttler Cheah Liek Hou winning Gold in the Men’s Singles SU5 Badminton competition earlier in the day.
Read More: Another Gold For Team Malaysia At the Paralympics!
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