Muhammad Ziyad bin Zolkefli KMN (born 15 March 1990) is a Malaysian Paralympic athlete who competes in T20 classification shot put events.[2] He has represented Malaysia in multiple Paralympics, World Championships and regional games, previously holding the world record in his division.[3]
Early life
[edit]Born in Selangor, Muhammad Ziyad was diagnosed with an intellectual impairment in preschool. He attended Sekolah Menengah Teknik Tanah Merah in Kelantan, and was involved in school sports. Before joining the Malaysian National Sports Council, he sold kueh teow on Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur. He is the eldest of four siblings.[4]
Athletics career
[edit]Muhammad Ziyad first came to prominence at the 2012 London Paralympic Games, winning the bronze medal with a throw of 15.21m in the men's F20 shot put event.[5] He won Malaysia's only gold medal at the 2013 World Para Athletics Championships in Lyon, and was recognised for his achievements as the National Paralympian Sportsman of the Year at the Anugerah Sukan Negara.[6]
At the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Muhammad Ziyad again represented Malaysia and won the gold medal in the shot put event, setting a new world record of 16.84m. At the world championships in London the following year, he surpassed himself to again set the world record, throwing a distance of 17.29m.[7]
2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games
[edit]At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, Muhammad Ziyad represented Malaysia and won the gold medal in the shot put event, again breaking the world record with a 17.94 m throw during his third round in the final.[8] He had initially arrived at the call room three minutes past his allocated time, but was allowed to compete. However, following an appeal from the Ukrainian team, both he and two other competitors were disqualified, invalidating the record. The ruling was upheld despite the athletes arguing that they did not recognise the relevant announcement as it was in a language they did not understand.[9] Following his disqualification, Ukraine's Maksym Koval was awarded the gold medal and the world record.[10] The decision was met with outcry, particularly from Malaysians. The hashtag #Ziyad trended on Twitter, with anger directed towards Koval and the IPC.[11][12]
Honours
[edit]Honours of Malaysia
[edit]Malaysia :
Officer of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (KMN) (2017)[13][14]
Selangor :
Companion of the Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (SIS) (2012)[15]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Muhammad Ziyad satisfied with performance at Asean Para games". Astro Awani. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
- ^ "Zolkefli, Muhammad Ziyad". paralympic.org. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Zolkefli, Muhammad Ziyad". IPC. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ Bernama (2016-09-11). "Muhammad Ziyad: From Kuey Teow seller to Paralympic gold medallist | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ Pillai, Ashreena (6 October 2014). "Paralympian Ziyad doesn't believe in luck". TheStarOnline. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ Singh, Aftar (9 October 2014). "Ziyad's the flag bearer for Para Games". TheStarOnline. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ "Muhamad Ziyad smashes world record in men's shot put". thesundaymail.com. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- ^ "ZOLKEFLI Muhammad Ziyad - Tokyo 2020 Paralympics". Tokyo2020.org. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Tokyo 2020: Anger after Paralympian is stripped of gold medal for being late". BBC Sport. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli Stripped of Gold Medal in Men's Shot Put Final, Maksym Koval Named Winner; Twitterati Call it 'Robbery' | 🏆 LatestLY". LatestLY. 2021-08-31. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
- ^ Adam, Ashman (31 August 2021). "Tokyo Paralympics: Outcry over decision to revoke Ziyad's gold medal after win disqualified on technical grounds | Malay Mail". malaymail.com. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
- ^ "M'sians express dissatisfaction over Ziyad's disqualification". Bernama. 9 January 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Chong Wei all fired up". Rajes Paul. The Star. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat".
- ^ "KETUA HAKIM NEGARA KETUAI 98 PENERIMA DARJAH KEBESARAN SELANGOR". ppuitm.uitm.edu.my. 11 December 2012.
External links
[edit]- Ziyad Zolkefli on Instagram
- Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli - Tag Archive - Sports247.My Archived 2017-09-21 at the Wayback Machine