PARIS – Paralympian Datuk Abdul Latif Romly claimed that an abdominal muscle injury on his left side which he suffered since last Wednesday affected his hunt for a hat-trick in the T20 men’s long jump (intellectual disability) gold in the Paris 2024 edition.
Despite his dreams of gold dashed, he still landed a solid silver medal in the Paralympics earlier today.
Matvei Lakushev who competed under the Neutral Paralympic Athlete ticket leapt to a new record of 7.51m in his final attempt to surpass Latif, who initially looked destined to defend his gold with a jump of 7.45m on his third attempt.
The long jump athlete said he began to detect the injury while undergoing training here, resulting in him having difficulty breathing while making jumps throughout the action at the Stade de France today.
“Losing and winning is customary in competition, anything can happen even in the last jump. I was feeling the stress but satisfied with today’s result.
“A week before the competition I was confident. In training, I had done 7.60m and above, but last Wednesday my left stomach muscle was pulled, and it really hurt,” he said right after the medal presentation ceremony.
The 27-year-old athlete said that the injury suffered somewhat affected his confidence after realising that Lakushev was capable of giving him fierce opposition in Paris 2024 after his opponent ranked first this year.
Opening the competition at the Stade de France, Latif slightly missed in his first attempt when he jumped 7.22m behind Hassan Dawshi of Saudi Arabia (7.27m).
The Perlis athlete then went on to improve the mark on the third jump with a distance of 7.45m.
However, despite arriving in Paris as the favourite and successfully completing three early jumps, he failed to maintain his pace in the remaining three attempts. This resulted in Lakushev snatching the gold that Latif won in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Jhon Sebastian Obando Asprilla of Colombia completed the podium with bronze after his best jump of 7.38m in his second attempt.
Lakushev previously had only a season best record by doing 7.41m at a tournament in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June while Latif was in second place with a distance of 7.30m when he won gold at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, last May.
Meanwhile, the world record holder of 7.64m which was set during the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, is determined to get back up and snatch the gold from Lakushev at the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
Despite losing his title as defending gold medallist, Latif said he wants to dedicate his silver medal to family members including his beloved wife Datin Nurul Nabila Farhana Musaidi who came to Paris to support him.
His achievement today saw Malaysia add another silver after his teammate, Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli won the country’s first silver in the F20 (intellectual disability) men’s shot put. – September 8, 2024