Blindness no obstacle to athlete from clinching gold
IPOH: As the saying goes ‘ Where there’s a will, there’s a way’, and blind Sarawak athlete, Filemon Lirong Dionisus was able to prove that being visually handicapped was not an obstacle to be successful in the sport he ventured into.
The 2 3 - year- old Filemon Lirong said he would never give up, despite having difficulties in continuing his interest in sports events, and he proved it by winning another gold for the Sarawak Contingent in the 400 metres (m) T11 (visual handicap) 2018 Malaysian Games ( Sukma) Paralympic event with a record of 63.21 seconds (s) yesterday.
The silver medal was won by Ooi Soon Wei from Penang with a time of 76.36s.
“Certainly it is hard for me to live my daily life in my condition, let alone to be an athlete, but because of my deep interest, I will continue.
“Although, sometimes I have to spend my own money to train, I do not think that it is a burden, on the other hand I am happy because I can progress in life,” he told Bernama here.
A day earlier, Filemon Lirong won gold in the 100m event for the same category.
The fifth child of eight siblings, Filemon Lirong said his vision disappeared completely after a fever earlier this year.
“Indeed, I was keen in sports when I could still see. I took part in football, futsal or takraw after work,” he said, adding that he would do his best if given the opportunity to pursue his career at a higher level.
In the meantime, the efforts of the Bintulu- born, did not go to waste when the national paralympic coach, R Jaganathan, when met at the Perak Stadium, said the athlete was now under the observation of the National Sports Council ( MSN).
“We have taken many names to date. We will inform the coaches in the states to give additional training to them. They wil l be taken by MSN if they show improvements.
“Among the names we have taken is Sarawak’s T11 category athlete ( Filemon Lirong) because I want to shape the 4x100m team and I see that he has the potential to be a back- up,” he said. — Bernama