Gee, Jonathan can do it
Long jumper aims to shine on Asian Para Games debut in Indonesia
KUALA LUMPUR: Visually impaired Jonathan Wong Kar Gee has been focusing on quality over quantity – and trust him to deliver at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, from Oct 6-13.
The long jumper has been juggling between his family business in Kota Kinabalu and athletics career but he is doing fine despite the limited time in training.
The part-time para-athlete, who has a genetic visual problem since he was eight years old, only trains once a day after work in the afternoons.
The 27-year- old lanky Jonathan, who stands at 1.85m, said he wanted to make a memorable debut in the Asian Para Games.
“I am excited to compete in my first Asian Para Games. I only train once a day due to work but I’ve been pushing hard in training and I’m ready to live up to my coach’s expectation,” said Jonathan, who trains under coach Yee Kwok Wai in Kota Kinabalu.
“I’ll be more than happy if I can jump more than seven metres to deliver the gold.”
Last year, Jonathan only trained six months for the Kuala Lumpur Asean Para Games but he soared high by winning the gold with a jump of 6.98m in September.
He arrived in Bukit Jalil on Tuesday for the last phase of training and will depart for Jakarta on Oct 2.
National para-athletics chief coach R. Jaganathan is banking on Jonathan and three other athletes from athletics to deliver the goods.
“Jonathan jumped to a personal best of 7.22m in the China Open in Beijing in May to win gold in the T11/12 (visual impairment),” said Jaganathan.
“His effort is better than the gold-winning mark of 6.88m (by China’s Mingyu Chen) in the last Asian Para Games in Incheon in 2014. Jonathan has a chance.”
The other athletes who will be out to win the gold medals are three 2016 Rio Paralympics gold medallists – Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi in the men’s 100m T36 (cerebral palsy), Abdul Latif Romly in the men’s long jump F20 (learning disability) and Muhd Ziyad Zolkefli in the men’s shot putt T20 (learning disability).