KUALA LUMPUR: Sprinter Muhd Ridzuan Puzi and swimmer Muhd Nur Syaiful Zulkafli are the two para athletes picked by Citibank as Malaysia’s ambassadors for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
This is the first time two Malaysian para athletes, among the 36 chosen from 18 countries, were selected by Citibank to be ambassadors for the Paralympics.
Ridzuan was selected for breaking the world record in the men’s T36 100m (celebral palsy) in the Asian Para Games in Jakarta last September.
The 24-year-old Nur Syaiful was chosen as he qualified for the first time for the Paralympics.
He clocked a personal best of 1:16.27 in the S5 100m freestyle event in the World Para Swimming World Series in Singapore last month. The Paralympic qualifying mark is 1:20.70.
Paralympic Division director Halimon Mohamad Sood said that it is a honour for Ridzuan and Nur Syaiful to be named as the ambassadors by Citibank,
“Each of the athlete will receive US$8,000 (RM33,000) for being ambassadors.
“The payment will be paid in stages from now until the end of next year.
“It will be a boost for the two Malaysian para athletes especially Nur Syaiful, who will be featuring for the first time in the Paralympic,” said Halimon.
He added that this year has been great for Ridzuan as he also won the 2018 Asia Best Male Para Athlete award.
Ridzuan created history by setting a world record in the men’s T36 100m (cerebral palsy) and an Asian long jump record in last year’s Asia Para Games.
He did a personal best of 11.87 in the blue riband event to erase the previous world record of 11.90 set by Russia’s Evgenii Shvetcov at the 2013 World Para Championships in Lyon.
Ridzuan also broke the Asian record in the long jump event with a personal best of 5.49m, erasing the previous record of 5.45m, set by Yang Yi Fei in 2016.
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