Rio Paralympics 2016: Latif Romly to build house, send parents for Umrah

The country's third gold medal winner in the Rio Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Abdul Latif Romly maybe just 19, but proved he was a true champion on and off the field.

When asked about his plans after receiving RM1 million as incentives from the government for his golden feat, the men's long jump T20 (Learning Disability) winner said he wanted to build a house and send his parents to perform the Umrah.

"With the RM1 million, I will build a house near Kampung Paya Kelubi, Bukit Keteri in Arau and send my parents for Umrah," he said in a video interview at the National Sports Council (MSN) which was shared via WhatsApp.

The Perlis boy clinched the gold medal after leaping 7.60m in his fifth jump which created a new world record at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, last night.

The earlier world record of 7.35m was also set by him at the International Paralympic Council (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar last year which erased the previous Paralympic record of 7.25m held by Jose Antonio Exposito Pineiro of Spain in the 2012 London edition.

"I am very satisfied as I managed to break the world record which I had set out to accomplish. I want to dedicate the gold medal to my family, coaches and all Malaysians who prayed for my success," he added.

The silver medal was won by Zoran Talic of Croatia with a jump of 7.12m while the bronze went to Dmytro Prudnikov of Ukraine with a distance of 6.99m.

According to the Athletes Incentive Scheme (Shakam) introduced by the Youth and Sports Ministry in 2013, Paralympic athletes will receive the same incentive as Olympic athletes, which is RM1 million and a monthly pension of RM5,000 for a gold medal, RM300,000 and a monthly pension of RM3,000 for silver and RM100,000 and RM2,000 pension for winning the bronze.

Meanwhile, national Paralympic long jump coach, Syahrul Amri Mohd Suhaimi was shocked with his protege's record jump and hoped Abdul Latif would maintain his momentum to achieve more success in the future.

"I was actually targeting 7.50m for him today (yesterday) but he really gave his best. We are pleasantly shocked and surprised by his outstanding won performance," he said.

Malaysia clinched the first gold medal via Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi in the men's 100m T36 (cerebral palsy) event with a time of 12.07 seconds which rewrote the previous Paralympic record of 12.25s by Roman Pavlyk of Ukraine set in Beijing in 2008.

Later, 2012 London Paralympics bronze medalist, Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli created a new world record in the men's shot put F20 (intellectual disability) with a throw of 16.84m to double the country's gold medal haul before Abdul Latif's feat.

Malaysia won a bronze medal in powerlifting via Siow Lee Chan at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008.

Four years later in London, the nation collected a silver through Hasihin Sanawi in the men's W1/W2 recurve archery and a bronze by Muhammad Ziyad in the F20 shot put. -- BERNAMA