Rio Paralympics 2016: 8 things you should know about Ridzuan Puzi

MOHAMAD Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi made history as the first athlete to win the Gold medal at the Paralympics.

In the 100m T36 (cerebral palsy) event held in Rio, Brazil, Mohamad Ridzuan clocked 12.07 seconds ahead of China’s Yang Yifei (12.20s) and Rodrigo Parreira da Silva from Brazil (12.54s).

Prior to this, Mohamad Ridzuan has recorded some successes in other games such as the World Athletics Championships and ASEAN Para Games and was voted Paralympic Athlete of the Year in 2015.

Here are some interesting facts about this hero:

1. Mohamad Ridzuan, 29, was born in Perlis.

2. Doctors diagnosed him with cerebral palsy at the age of one year old.

3. According to Paralympic.org, Mohamad Ridzuan took part in this sport during school meets and was talent-spotted in 2004.

4. Mohamad Ridzuan made his debut as a professional athlete in the ASEAN Para Games held in Solo, Indonesia in 2011.

5. R. Jeganathan is his coach.

6. In preparation for the Paralympics in Rio, Mohamad Ridzuan was given the opportunity to receive intensive training for two weeks in Germany and trained with the local athletes there.

7. He held the world number one ranking in the 100m T36 event. According to Stadium Astro website, his ranking dropped to fourth after being overtaken by Chinese sprinter Yang Yifei.

8. Mohamad Ridzuan won voted at as Paralympic Athlete of the Year following the success of winning the gold medal at the IPC World Athletics Championships in Qatar for the 100m (T36) and ASEAN Para Games (APG) in Singapore in the 100m and 200m (T36) events.