KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — All members of the Malaysian Paralympics contingent that is currently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Rio Paralympics are in high spirits and healthy.
Rio Paralympics chef-de-mission Dr Ang Kean Koo said he was happy with the preparations and condition of the athletes, assistance from the coaches and the support from the National Sports Institute (ISN).
“Everyone in the contingent are in a positive mood and ready to face the challenges when competing in their respective sports and events,” he said when contacted by Bernama.
He said Managers meeting and technical meeting for five sports , namely table tennis, powerlifting, athletics, swimming and cycling have been held.
The 21 athletes in the Malaysian Paralympics contingent will be competing in eight of the 23 sports contested with athletics, powerlifting and cycling identified as medal prospects.
Malaysia’s participation in the Paralympics started in 1972 when three athletes competed in the Paralympics hosted by Germany in Heidelberg.
However, Malaysia did not participate in three subsequent Paralympics but resumed their participation in Seoul, South Korea in 1988 where powerlifter P. Mariappan won the country’s first ever medal in Paralympics by coming home with a bronze.
Mariappan repeated a similar feat in the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics while teammate Cheok Kon Fatt went one better by winning a silver medal, also in powerlifting and Mohd Khasseri Othman contributed another bronze from athletics.
After a barren run that lasted until 2008, Siow Lee Chan ended the medal drought in Beijing, China to win the country’s only bronze medal from powerlifting.
At the 2012 Paralympics in London, the Malaysian Paralympics contingent came home with a silver and bronze medal through archer Hasihin Sanawi from men’s Recurve and Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli from the men’s shot put respectively. — Bernama
