Para athlete Latif aims to break barriers at world meet

KUALA LUMPUR: For para athlete Abdul Latif Romly, the sky’s the limit.

The Kangar-born athlete has set himself two missions at the World Para Athletics Championships, which begin in London today.

He wants to defend his gold and break his own T20 (learning disability) men’s long jump world record. He set the world record – 7.60m – at the Rio Paralympics last August to win the gold medal.

Abdul Latif also holds the championships record of 7.35m, which he set in Doha, Qatar, in 2015. The 20-year-old said in a telephone interview yesterday that he is ready for action after undergoing 10 days of intensive training at the Burnel University in London. “Nobody expected me to win the gold in Rio de Janeiro, but I defied the odds and broke the world record three times on the way to achieving it.

“I believe I can push myself further to create another piece of history in London,” said Abdul Latif, who was named the 2016 National Sportsman of the Year for his achievements at the Rio Paralympics.

He became the first para athlete to win the national award. “We had a really good training at the Burnel University as we joined the England para athletes. The university has one of the best facilities and also a nice atmosphere. It is also the training base for the world’s fastest sprinter Usian Bolt,” said Abdul Latif, who expects Rio Paralympics silver medallist (Talic Zoran of Croatia) and bronze medallist Prudnikov Dmytro of Ukraine to be his main challengers.

Abdul Latif will have two more major meets coming up – SEA Games (from Aug 19-26) and Para Asean Games (from Sept 17-23). “My goal in all three meets is to give my best and win gold,” said the cheerful Abdul Latif, who will be among six Malaysian para athletes featuring in the world meet in London.

The others are Ziyad Zolkefli F20 (intellectual impairment) men’s shot putt, Mohd Ridzuan Mohd Puzi T36 (celebral palsy) men’s 100m, Mohd Saifuddin Ishak T12 (visual impairment) men’s long jump, Nasharuddin Mohamed in the T20 (intellectual impairment) men’s 400m and Siti Noor Radiah Ismail T20 women’s long jump.

Malaysia won two golds at the last para world meet in Doha in 2015. The other gold was bagged by Ridzuan.