Ziyad wins silver medal for Malaysia at the Paris 2024 Paralympics

KUALA LUMPUR: The hopes of national para athletics champion Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli to reclaim the gold medal in the men’s F20 (intellectual impairment) shot put at the Paris 2024 Paralympics were not fulfilled.

According to Sinar Harian, at the Stade de France in Paris, Muhammad Ziyad achieved a distance of 17.18 meters, securing a silver medal for the national contingent, after returning empty-handed at the Tokyo 2020 edition.

The 34-year-old athlete started with a first throw of 16.75 meters, followed by 16.66 meters in the second attempt, and 17.18 meters, his best throw, in the third attempt.

The Rio 2016 gold medalist tried to make a comeback but could not surpass his best throw with a final attempt of 16.86 meters.

Ukrainian athlete Oleksandr Yarovyi caused a surprise by breaking the world record twice, securing the gold medal for himself.

Yarovyi recorded a distance of 17.60 meters on his third attempt, surpassing the previous world record held by his teammate and defending champion Maksym Koval, which was 17.57 meters set at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.

The 25-year-old athlete then exceeded the world record he had set earlier by throwing 17.61 meters on his fourth attempt, thereby taking the gold medal from Koval.

Koval’s performance was less effective, with his throws being invalidated four times, and he had to settle for the bronze medal with his best attempt of 16.99 meters on his second throw.

Meanwhile, winning the silver medal this time has erased the dark episode that haunted Ziyad after his disqualification for being late to the call room at Tokyo 2020.

Learning from that incident, Ziyad arrived 20 minutes earlier to the call room at the Stade de France before starting his shot put event.