PETALING JAYA: It was a proud moment in history for Malaysia as powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin delivered Malaysia’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics.
The Sarawak-born Bonnie shattered the Paralympic record at 228kg as his main rivals faltered by the wayside, carving powerlifting’s best achievement for Malaysia.
With this, heartfelt congratulations have been pouring in for the 22-year-old by Malaysians from all walks of life on The Star's social media platforms since the news broke on Saturday (Aug 28).
On Facebook, Nanie Imran said; "Congrats! The best news for Malaysia! Way to go Bonnie!"
Vanitha Rangganathan thanked Bonnie for the early National Day gift to the country.
"I followed this event. Fantastic. Congratulations," added Sukhi Sidhu.
Rosland Mohd Jannes in his congratulatory message expressed much amazement at Bonnie's accomplishment.
"An average person usually has a hard time lifting 50kg, but he can lift over 200kg. Respect," he said.
On Twitter, former national swimmer Khoo Cai Lin also took the opportunity to congratulate Bonnie for his extraordinary accomplishment.
Numerous other Twitter users echoed the sentiment, including Ben Badrul who said, "Congratulations, you make us proud!"
On Instagram, @adrian.khor said that what Bonnie did was awesome and made all Malaysians proud.
Similarly, @jude.raj.2003 said; "Congratulations, bro! We are extremely proud of you".
Earlier, Bonnie was the last in the field of 10 to appear on stage and had no trouble lifting 217kg with his first lift (squat).
He went on to nail the second lift (bench press) at 225kg. With no one close to matching his leading effort, Bonnie went on to lift 228kg (dead lift) to successfully break the Paralympics record held by Rasool Mohsin of Iran by 1kg.
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