KUALA LUMPUR: Para athlete Abdul Latif Romly is all geared up to outdo the able-bodied athletes to defend his men’s long jump gold and break the record in the 19th edition of the Malaysia Games (Sukma) starting on Sept 11.
The athletics competitions will be held at the Perak Stadium.
The Kangar-born athlete, who will be competing in his third and final Sukma, was in smashing form at the Kuala Lumpur Open Athletics Championships in Bukit Jalil last month as he did a personal best of 7.85m to win the gold.
His effort was just three centimetres short of the national record (7.88m) set by Josbert Tinus in Bangkok in 2007.
Abdul Latif also improved on his personal best by 25cm, which he did at the Rio Paralympics to win the gold with a jump of 7.60m.
The two-time world para champion said he was confident of breaking the Sukma long jump record of 7.55m, set by Perak’s Mohd Hazuan Zainal Abidin in Sabah in 2002.
“I’ve made steady progress in competitions. I’m physically and mentally in good shape. I don’t think any able-bodied athlete can stop me from finishing on top of the podium,” said Abdul Latif.
Abdul Latif won the gold with a jump of 7.46m at the Sarawak Sukma in 2016 and a silver with 7.12m in his debut in Perlis in 2014.
He is using the Sukma as a good warm-up ahead of the third Asian Para Games in Jakarta from Oct 6-13.
“My mission in Jakarta is to improve on my personal best to retain my gold I won at the last Asian Para Games in Incheon with an effort of 7.01m.
“I need a gold to qualify for next year’s World Para Athletics Championships (in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from Nov 7-15),” added Abdul Latif, who was the gold medallist in the World Championships in Leon, France, in 2015 and London last year.
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