Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli

Started: He took up the sport at school in 2009. (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019) Reason: Athletics was a compulsory activity at his school. (Athlete, 21 Oct 2015) Ambition: To win gold at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (selangorkini.my, 14 Jul 2023) Milestones: In 2016 he became the second Malaysian to win gold at a Paralympic Games when he won the men's F20 shot put, around an hour after compatriot Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi won the country's first gold in the men's T36 100m. (paralympic.org, 10 Sep 2016; SportsDeskOnline, 01 Mar 2021) Awards: He was named Best Athlete of 2017 at the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia Awards. (kosmo.com.my, 02 Mar 2018) In 2017 he was named to the Order of the Defender of the Realm [Bintang Kesatria Mangku Negara] in Malaysia. (tatlerasia.com, 12 Dec 2022; theborneopost.com, 10 Sep 2017) The Malaysian Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development named a welfare institution in Selangor in his name [Taman Sinar Harapan Ziyad Zolkefli] after he won gold in the F20 shot put at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (hmetro.com.my, 28 Sep 2016) He was Malaysia's flag bearer for the opening ceremony at the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon, Republic of Korea, and at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. (thestar.com.my, 09 Oct 2014) He was named Para Athlete of the Year at the 2013 Malaysian Sports Awards. (astroawani.com, 11 Sep 2016) Additional Info: ATHLETICS AND PARA ATHLETICS He was motivated to begin competing in non-Para events after he read negative comments on social media following his gold medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He went on to win bronze in non-Para shot put at the 2017 South East Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and then also claimed medals at the South East Asian Games in 2019, 2022, and 2023. "I have read many negative posts on social media, the most memorable is the one that said, 'You can win against Para athletes, now why don't you try against non-Para athletes'. I was furious because they didn't know how hard it was to get to this level. So then I kept telling my coach I wanted to compete against non-Para athletes. He agreed and at the time the closest event was the 2017 South East Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur." (SportsDeskOnline, 18 Jan 2024; Facebook page, 05 Jul 2022; selangorkini.my, 03 Jul 2022; nst.com.my, 15 May 2022)