Hail the fighters
Para sprinter Afiq clinches bronze, breaks national record
Rhythmic gymnast Amy Kwan Dict Weng drew inspiration from Christina Aguilera’s hit song ‘Fighter’ to garner a bronze in the individual all-around. The song with the never-say-die lyrics helped her to bounce back from disappointing attempts in the first two apparatus. In athletics, para athlete Muhd Afiq Mohamad Ali Hanafiah’s fighting spirit propelled him to a bronze and a national record in the men’s 100m T12 (visual impairment) event.
PARA sprint athlete Muhd Afiq Mohamad Ali Hanafiah arrived in Gold Coast without any expectations.
But the 23-year-old will return home with a bronze medal and a national record.
Afiq made a memorable debut in the Games by clocking 11.28 to finish third in the men’s 100m T12 (visual impairment) at the Carrara Stadium yesterday.
In the heats, he clocked a personal best of 11.20 to break the national record of 11.27 set by Mohd Faizal Aideal Suhaimi at the 2015 Singapore Asean Para Games.
Only four athletes featured in the final and it was a 1-2 finish for South African sprinters.
Ndodomzi Nyutu, who broke the Games record with a personal best of 10.80 in the heats, won the gold (11.02) and Hilton Langenhoven took silver (11.27).
Afiq was thrilled to bits with his effort.
“I did not have any expectations as I was not sure how good the others were but I’m happy with my race,” said Afiq.
“I thank coach Adnan (Mohd Ali) for pushing me hard in training to break the national record,” he added.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’ s flag-bearer Muhd Hakimi Ismail emerged as the top performer when he qualified for the men’s triple jump final with a leap of 16.36m as the fourth qualifier in a
20-member field.
Iskandar Alwi managed only 5.00m to finish eighth.
Discus thrower Muhd Irfan Shamsuddin was a big letdown when he failed to record a throw
after three fouls in the qualifying.
The Asian Championships silver medallist, who has a personal best of 62.55m, said: “This is my worst-ever outing in a competition.”