By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, Aug 23: Sarikei-born ironman Jonah Chang Rigan has earned all three gold medals he targeted in the 21st Malaysian Games (Sukma).
The 21-year-old from Sarikei threw a distance of 54.65 metres in the men’s hammer throw event at the Sarawak Stadium here today, securing a gold medal.
His performance has bettered his personal best record of 53.54m set in Terengganu in July this year.
Meanwhile, Jonah’s challenger, Rizad Azri Che Radzi from Perlis, who he described as his ‘big fight’ prior to the event, cleared a distance of 48.70m to secure the silver medal.
The bronze medal went to Sabah’s Nabil Faiz Ayub, who cleared 46.50m, while another Sarawakian, Lu Teck Yi, finished in fourth place with 43.55m.
This is his third gold after winning the men’s shot put event, where he set a new Sukma record of 17.66m on Monday (Aug 19) and threw a distance of 46.16m in the men’s discus throw event on Wednesday (Aug 21) where he missed by only 1cm difference from his personal best record of 46.17m.
Despite not being able to hurl the hammer a distance of 55m as he originally planned, Jonah still expressed his happiness for making a historic performance of winning three golds in all events he competed in this year’s Sukma.
“It is a bit disappointing not to be able to reach the 55m target, but I am still grateful to have won all three golds, marking a historic moment for myself. Previously, I wasn’t confident about achieving this target, but now that I have, it really boosts my confidence.
“After Sukma, I aim to better my personal best record in the upcoming Cahya Mata’s Malaysian Open Championships,” he told reporters after the event.
Recounting the moment during the match, Jonah revealed that he was nervous the whole time as he believed that Rizad Azri could surpass his distance record.
He also said that although he had an injury to his chest, his hammer throw performance was not affected at all, as the necessary technique mainly focused on the lower body.
“I wasn’t worried about the injury, but since my body has gone tired and is all-out from the first two events (shot put and discus throw), I could only better my hammer throw’s personal record today.
“Personally, discus and hammer throw events are just for fun (side events) so that I could change my training rather than focusing only on shot put until I grow bored of them. That is why I initially played the other two events as a warm-up exercise.
“After this, I think I can go far with the hammer throw event, but not discus throw. I heard Jackie Wong Siew Cheer (veteran hammer thrower) will retire soon, and I hope I can become his successor,” he elaborated.
As Sukma comes to an end, Jonah looks forward to spending a one-month holiday in his village in Sarikei before competing in the Cahaya Mata Open later this year, which will take place in Perlis while the finals will take place in Sarawak.
— DayakDaily
