KUCHING, May 8: Another Sarawakian athlete, national powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin has made the whole country proud after he clinched the gold medal for Malaysia in the 2021 World Para Powerlifting World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand last Friday.
Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan has congratulated the 21-year-old Bonnie from Serian who broke his own records by lifting 226kg to win the gold in the men’s up to 72kg class, an improvement from his best lift of 207kg in Kazakhstan in 2019 by nearly 20kg.
At the recent competition, he out-lifted second-place finisher, a 2012 London Paralympics champion from Iran Nader Moradin by 22kg while Alexandr Daskov of Kazakhstan finished third with 104kg.
“Sarawak is never short of world class athletes.
“Sarawakians are overwhelmingly happy and (we) congratulate you on your achievement at the world stage. We share your victory,” he said in a statement today.
With his performance through the roof, Snowdan pointed out that Bonnie topped the list of athletes who qualified for the Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan in August this year.
With this brilliant performance, Bonnie is well on his way to the Tokyo Paralympics as he is also one of the famous powerlifters for the gold medal.
“Once again, congratulations Bonnie, as well as your coaching team, officials and supporters who made this happen.
“You are our pride and our star,” he added. — DayakDaily
