Keep our para athletes’ fire burning
It would be great, though, if we could also send them to the Commonwealth Games that will be held in Australia’s Gold Coast next April.
ANOTHER roaring success – there is no other way to describe the Asean Para Games that ended yesterday. The overall champion title may have eluded Malaysia but our para athletes put up a good fight to the end to challenge eventual winner Indonesia.
In fact, the Malaysian contingent clinched the most medals overall at 258 and lost out to Indonesia, which bagged only 251 overall, but has a higher gold medal tally at 126 compared to our 90.
We were off the mark for the 103 gold medals target, yet it is still a step forward for our para athletes and an achievement to be celebrated, considering that both Indonesia and Malaysia managed to break Thailand’s dominance.
In the last few years, Malaysia has made great leaps in pushing parasports in the country, largely due to the determination, courage and efforts of the athletes, coaches, support groups and advocates, and the Paralympic Council of Malaysia, no less.
Essentially, it was the council, under the leadership of founding president Datuk Zainal Abu Zarin, that got the ball rolling for the biennial championship when it pushed for the setting up of the Asean Para Sports Federation (APSF) in 2000.
The APSF’s aim is to prepare athletes from the Asean level to compete in the international arena. And, kudos to the federation, the 9th Games showed how much Asean’s para sports has grown.
Malaysia’s para sports too has come a long way since its debut at the 1972 Paralympic Games in Heidelberg, Germany, when a delegation of three competed in track and field, and weightlifting.
Malaysia did not win any medals that year, but has since collected three golds, two silvers and five bronzes. We now even have record holders such as shot putter Ziyad Zolkefli, who holds both the World and Paralympics records. He just broke his own Asean record.
Not many may know of our first Paralympics medallist – Perumal Mariappan – who won a bronze medal for weightlifting at the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games. But, today, our para athletes have become household names and have fan followings of their own.
Malaysians wept when our gold medal hopeful – paralympian gold medallist Ridzuan Puzi – was not able to defend his 100m and 200m golds after contracting fever.
Likewise, many cheered when cyclist Adi Raimie Amizazahan clinched the country’s first gold medal at the recent Games. They also jumped for joy when rookie para long jumper Wong Kar Gee from Kota Kinabalu won the country’s 27th gold in track and field.
The most inspiring victory was, of course, achieved by our para road cycling squad. They grittily bagged 22 golds, won in honour of teammates who were injured when they were hit by a car while training prior to the Games.
Now, as our para athletes rest and regroup before training for the 2018 Asian Para Games, we need to continue showing them our support and grooming the next generation of competitors too. It would be great, though, if we could also send them to the Commonwealth Games that will be held in Australia’s Gold Coast next April.
The Commonwealth Games is one of the few fully integrated sports competitions in the world, and the GC2018 will see some 300 para athletes competing in 38 events across seven sports. Their wins will contribute towards the overall medal tally for the national teams.
Just as our para athletes’ recent feats have helped us see through our ignorance and prejudices in appreciating the extraordinary fighting spirit and dignity of the disabled, a challenge like the GC2018 can help show us the real meaning of inclusion and equality for them.