Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s Para-long jumper Jonathan Wong is targeting a top three finish at the 2023 Para Athletics World Championships in Paris scheduled to start from July 8 to 17.
The 32-year-old has an excellent record in the men’s long jump T12 (visual impairment) event, having won the silver medal in the Dubai 2019 World Para Athletics Championships with a record of 7.06m.
He said he is in better shape in his second attempt at the World Championships, and hopes to finish on the podium in order for him to qualify for the Paralympic Games next year.
“In the last competition, I wanted to do well so badly that I over exerted myself in training and did not have sufficient rest to recover in time for the competition.
“This time round, I have fully recovered and started my training since December at the Likas Stadium and at the gym with the guidance from a coach I have engaged,” he said.
Jonathan, who is the son of renowned entrepreneur and property developer Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen, is currently ranked fifth in the world and a win in Paris will see him taking over the number one spot.
He achieved his personal best of 7.22m at the Beijing World Grand Prix in 2018.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Angin hopes that Jonathan who will depart to Paris on Friday will make the country proud.
“We have put our hopes on Jonathan. I am confident he will make Sabah and Malaysia proud.
“We are here to give Jonathan our moral support and blessings in the upcoming championships,” he said at the WSG Group office here on Wednesday.
Also present at the meeting were Susan, Jonathan’s sister Melissa Wong, Sabah Sports Council (MSN) deputy director Alissa Azha and officer Husnei Alfakhri Usin.
