Malaysian Paralympic shot putter Ziyad Zolkefli
Malaysia has had a pretty good time this year at the 2020 Paralympics Games in Tokyo. With one gold and two silver medals, we finished 52nd overall. However, Malaysia’s hope to win another gold medal in the F20 shot put event was crushed after Ziyad Zolkefli got disqualified by the IPC which has become the talk of the nation.
Still, he has come a long way in his sport. Here’s a list of Ziyad Zolkefli facts that every Malaysian should know besides the fact that the Paralympian lost his golden opportunity at the Games.
1. He was born in Selangor and is the eldest of four siblings
Image credit: @ziyadzolkefli
Muhammad Ziyad bin Zolkefli, or famously known as Ziyad Zolkefli, is a Selangor citizen born on 15th March 1990. The Paralympian who now resides in Gombak attended primary school at Sekolah Menengah Teknik Tanah Merah in Kelantan.
Now, 31, Ziyad is married to his wife Zafira Nasir and he has two adorable kids – his daughter Zuhayra Zafra was born in 2017, and son Tariq Xavier was born in 2019.
2. He has an intellectual impairment which was identified in pre-school
Image credit: @ziyadzolkefli
As a Paralympian, Ziyad contests in the F20 category of the shot put event. The F20 category represents intellectual impairment for field games. It is similar to the T20 category in which intellectually impaired athletes contest in track and jump events.
According to World Para Athletes, athletes in this category have difficulties running (400m – marathon), jumping (long jump and triple jump) or throwing (shot put). For Ziyad, his disability is congenital and it was detected when he was in pre-school.
3. He used to sell kuey teow before joining the National Sports Council
Image credit: @ziyadzolkefli
Ziyad rose to fame as a national athlete after his 2016 Paralympic win in Rio de Janeiro. Prior to joining the National Sports Council and representing Malaysia in international competitions, he used to sell kuey teow at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur.
His father Zolkefli Othman who spoke to Bernama in 2016 also mentioned that Ziyad is a very independent man and a good cook. Ziyad was already playing the shot put event at school since 2009 as athletics was compulsory in his school.
4. He’s the second Malaysian to win a gold medal at the Paralympic Games
Image credit: @ziyadzolkefli
Ziyad is the second Malaysian to win a gold medal for the country in the Paralympic Games after Mohd Ridzuan Mohd Puzi, who won a gold medal in the 100m sprint event in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Ziyad also won the gold medal in Rio around an hour after Ridzuan in the F20 category of the shot put event with a throw length of 16.84, breaking the previous world record.
5. He broke the world record for the shot put event twice
Image credit: @ziyadzolkefli
It is undeniable Ziyad Zolkefli is one of the most successful Malaysian Paralympians. This is because he’s broken the world record for the F20 shot put event several times.
He first broke the world record in Rio five years ago with a 16.84m throw. He then his broke own world record again in 2017 at the World Para Athletics Championships in London with a throw of 17.29m.
6. He has won several gold medals in international sports
Image credit: @ziyadzolkefli
So far, Ziyad has won multiple gold medals for the shot put event. He has won the gold medal twice at the IPC World Championships, and in the Asian Para Games in years 2013, 2017 and 2014 and 2018 respectively.
Besides, he has won a silver medal at the 2019 SEA Games and a bronze medal at the 2017 SEA Games. He has also won a bronze medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
7. He was conferred a Federal Award in 2017
Image credit: @ziyadzolkefli
Due to his exceptional performance in the 2016 Paralympic Games, Ziyad was given the Kesatria Mangku Negara (KMN) or Officer of the Order of the Defender of the Realm federal award in 2017.
It is one of the prestigious federal awards given by the Malaysian government to individuals for their meritorious service to the country.
8. He set a new world record at the 2020 Paralympics Games in Tokyo
Image credit: @ziyadzolkefli
Ziyad broke the world record for the F20 shot put event again this year in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics Games with a distance of 17.94m. However, he was later disqualified by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) because he showed up late to the roll call area.
Malaysians who were jubilant at first then became outraged over the IPC’s decision to classify Ziyad as “did not start” (DNS). The appeal to reconsider the decision to the World Para Athletics and IPC was also rejected, following which Ziyad publicly apologised to Malaysians via Instagram.
Facts about Paralympic shot putter Ziyad Zolkefli
Although the odds are not in favour of Ziyad this time, he is still a true hero in all of our hearts.
We hope these Ziyad Zolkefli facts will inspire Malaysians to continue to support all of our national athletes during ups and downs because anything can happen in sports.
May Ziyad and other Malaysian athletes take this incident as a lesson to improve themselves for future competitions.
Read more inspiring stories about Malaysian athletes:
- 10 facts about national diver Pandelela Rinong
- 8 facts about badminton men’s doubles players Aaron Chia & Soh Wooi Yik
- 10 facts about Malaysian Olympian Nur Dhabitah Sabri
- 8 facts about the handsome Malaysian swimmer Welson Sim
- 11 facts about football legend Mokhtar Dahari a.k.a Super Mokh
Cover image adapted from: @ziyadzolkefli and @ziyadzolkefli