National athlete, Muhammad Hakimi Ismail proved himself praiseworthy yesterday in the 2015 SEA Games when he won a gold medal in the triple jump event, ending Malaysia’s 18 year drought alongside breaking the Games Record.
The 24 year-old stunned the other athletes when he recorded a jump of 16.76 metres in the finals, surpassing record-holder Nguyen Van Hung of Vietnam who jumped 16.67m in the previous edition of the SEA Games.
Hakimi, whom previously won a silver medal in the Myanmar SEA Games two years ago, had not predicted such a memorable triumph.
“In the beginning I did not make it pass the qualifying criteria to take part in the SEA Games this year but my name was still listed because I won a silver medal in Myanmar two years ago,” said Hakimi as quoted from Kosmo.
“My expectations were quite high. I only focused on giving my best performance. I targeted at least a silver medal.”
“To set a new record in the event is a surprise for me. I could not believe it myself.”
As Hakimi took the spotlight of the event, the silve medal was handed to Thailand’s Kongnil Varunyoo whom recorded 16.20m and Van Hung was shown the bronze this year with 15.92m.
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