THANK YOU, COACH
Ziyad grateful to Faizol for making him a world champ
REPORTS BY DEVINDER SINGH devinder@nst.com.my
ZIYAD Zolkefli paid tribute to his coach Faizol Harun in turning him into a two-time world champion and Paralympic gold medallist after the shot putter’s latest success in London on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Ziyad claimed his second win at the World Para Athletics Championships with a world record put of 17.29 metres in the F20 category for intellectually impaired athletes to add to his 2013 world title in Lyon, France and last year’s Paralympic gold in Rio de Janeiro.
“Firstly I am grateful for what I have achieved,” Ziyad told Timesport from London yesterday.
“It is a gift for me and to break the world record is an achievement I will truly treasure.”
But central to Ziyad’s success has been Faizol, who has stood by the athlete for seven years and gradually developed his talent to the extent that he has now become one of the leading Southeast Asian shot putters.
“Coach’s contribution to my success has no limits and is invaluable,” said Ziyad, a gold medal favourite at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games next month after winning at the Thailand Open last month against able-bodied athletes.
“I give thanks to my coach, who always strove to motivate me and never gave up on pushing me in training even though I sometimes became bored and stubborn and did not quite understand his training methods.
“But he was 100 per cent focused on me. We have faced so many challenges in our seven years together. From zero to world record holder. From zero metre to 17.29m. I always give my best for coach.” In London, Ziyad improved on the world record of 16.84 metres he set in securing Paralympic gold last year. He finished ahead of Ecuador’s Stalin Mosquera and defending champion Todd Hodgetts of Australia, who registered throws of 16.72m and 15.96m for silver and bronze respectively. Ziyad, who won bronze at the last championships in 2015, effectively had victory sealed with his first attempt when he crossed the 17-metre mark for the only time in six throws.
“I thank God for my success and also to the people who have helped me from the shadows,” Ziyad added on Instagram. “To achieve the throw I did was not easy, I had to travel through a road full of obstacles.
“Sometimes I felt like giving up but for the sake of my country, family and friends, I battled on.”
Malaysia’s two other Rio Paralympic gold medallists, 100m sprinter Ridzuan Puzi and long jumper Abdul Latif Romly, got their campaign underway late yesterday.