Muhamad Ziyad smashes world record in men's shot put

Malaysia's para athlete Muhamad Ziyad Zolkefli smashed another world record in the men's shot put F20 event at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championship in London yesterday.

At the event held in the evening at the London Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Muhammad Ziyad threw a distance of 17.29m to rewrite his own previous world record of 16.84m set at last year's Rio Paralympic Games in Brazil.

The silver medal was won by Ecuador's Stalin David Mosquera with a distance of 16.61m, while 2012 Paralympics gold medallist Tod Hodgetts of Australia claimed the bronze with a throw of 15.94m.

"I came here to bring something back to my country. This is the second world record for me and I am so proud. I have trained so hard for this. I woke up this morning (Saturday) and thought I could break the world record. I always dream that I will do it and tonight I did. World record, Paralympic champion and now world champion – that sounds good.

"I went totally mental when I saw the Australian’s distance but I knew it wasn’t that far. I knew it was wrong. I got really emotional but my coach settled me down. It did disturb me but now I am extra happy to win," said Muhamad Ziyad as quoted in International Paralympic Committee (IPC) official website.

-- BERNAMA