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Cover Story
14 ~ FireFlyz
Abdul LatifBinRomly (Athletics
Men’s Long Jump- T20)
Latif ’s infectious grin puts you at ease as
soon as youmeet him. This 19-year-old,
whowas born in Perlis,Malaysia, was the
flag bearer for theMalaysian contingent
at Rio. Having already wonGold at the
IPC AthleticsWorld Championships in
Doha, Qatar, the athlete - prior to his
performance in Rio -was already ranked
second in theworld in his category (Men’s
Long Jump in the T20 category).
It was not all cheers though, as he
contracted dengue soon after the
championships inDoha. He said that he
was “very demoralised” as his body was
obviously not at its peak after recovering
fromdengue. “It was very hard to ‘restart’
my conditioning programme because I
was not feeling so good, but I knew I had
to pushmyself to getmy fitness back,” he
said.
Though Riomay be over, the train-
ing still carries on. Latif, as do the
other athletes, train six hours a day, from
Monday to Friday. Saturday’s are a half day
for themwith Sunday’s being a full day
off. He like hanging out at Berjaya Times
Squarewith his friends or just relaxing in
his room, which is “also good.”
A self-confessed
food lover, he happily
admits to not being
fussy at all about his
food. “There is not a
specific type of food
that I like, I will eat
everything,” he said
laughing.
His plans for the
future? “To fly as high
as I can!” he saidwith
yet another cheeky
grin on his face.
*Muhammad
ZiyadBinZolkefli
(AthleticsMen’s
Shot Put - F20)
Ziyadwas born on
March 15, 1990 in
Selangor. His intellec-
tual impairment was
identifiedwhile hewas still in pre-school.
He attended SekolahMenengah Teknik
TanahMerah in Kelantan,Malaysia
(Vocational College) and is the eldest
of four siblings. Before he joined the
National Sports Council, Ziyadwas selling
kueh teow
in Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman.
He shot to fame in 2012when he
bagged the bronzemedal –with a throw
of 15.21m– in themen’s F20 shot putt
event at the Paralympic Games in London.
The International Paralympic Committee
(IPC), whichwas held in France, sawhim
registering a personal best of 15.23m. This
win netted hima goldmedal. After his
success at the 2013World Championships,
inwhich hewonMalaysia’s onlymedal of
the tournament, Zolkefli was recognised
as theNational Paralympian Sportsman
of the Year one year later.
It was his performance at the 2013
World Championships thatmoved
Malaysian Youth and SportsMinister
Khairy Jamaluddin to announce that
Paralympians would get the same reward
as Olympians for theirmedals.
*Ziyadwas unable to attend the interviewas
he had a prior commitment.
The sweet taste of victory.
Latiff did not let the fact
that hewas recovering from
dengue stop him.
Ziyad’s performance at the 2013World
Championships movedMalaysian Youth and
SportsMinister Khairy Jamaluddin to announce
that Paralympians would get the same reward as
Olympians for theirmedals.