KANGAR: His stunning record in the men’s long jump T20 (learning disability) event at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta two years ago has given national Paralympic athlete Abdul Latif Romly (pic) all the motivation needed to achieve greater success this season.In fact, the Perlis-born athlete has set his sights on a more ambitious mission - to break the world record at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics from Aug 25-Sept 6.
“I not only want the gold in Tokyo. I want to break the world record there as well… that is my mission,” he said recently.
As the 2018 Asian Paralympics champion, Abdul Latif said he is aware of the need to be sharply focused in training to attain those goals. In Jakarta two years ago, Abdul Latif retained his men’s long jump T20 gold with a jump distance of 7.64m, bettering his own world record of 7.60m when he won the gold at the Rio Paralympics in 2016.
“I’m training as usual now. I am at about 70 percent there in my preparations, but I can’t afford to take things easy,” he said. Asked on his preparations for the 2020 Asean Para Games in the Philippines, Abdul Latif said he had not set any targets yet for the meet. The 10th Asean Para Games in Manila was originally set for January 2020 but was rescheduled to March due to financial and logistical constraints.
However, it has been postponed again, this time indefinitely due to Covid-19 pandemic. – Bernama
