KUALA LUMPUR: Paralympic long jump coach Shahrul Amri Suhaimi hopes national para long jump champion Datuk Abdul Latif Romly does not waste his jumps at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games which will open its curtain from August 28 to September 8.
Shahrul admitted that it is indeed a difficult task for the 27-year-old athlete, better known as Latif Romly, to defend the gold medal in his third appearance at the prestigious sports event, not to mention the presence of many young challengers who are expected to make their debut in Paris.
“I expect him to do his best jump and not squander his chances this time. We have prepare the techniques and run-ups so that he doesn’t make mistakes that could lead to cancellation.
“We expect Latif to do his best to retain the gold medal for the third time, even though the challenge is quite stiff,“ he told reporters at the training session of the athletics squad at the Mini Stadium of the National Sports Council (MSN) here today.
Shahrul said based on his performance during training, Latif Romly is on the best track to surpass this season’s personal best of 7.37 metres (m).
However, he did not want to put too much pressure on the Perlis-born athlete in order to avoid any injury during training or when competing in Paris later.
“To avoid repeated injuries we need to be careful, reduce the intensity. In terms of intensity, we can’t be too severe this time, for Latif to be free from any pressure,“ he said.
Latif Romly is the T20 men’s long jump gold medalist (learning disability) at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and 2020 Tokyo, Japan.
In May, Latif Romly once again scored another major success when he won the world title for the fourth time at the 2024 Kobe World Para Athletics Championships in Japan with a jump of 7.30 m to win the gold medal.
