KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah's 16-year-old Eddy Bernard loudly proclaimed "Saya Istimewa" (I'm special) after winning gold in the T37 (cerebral palsy) 100m race at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil when he clocked 12.45s.
He is special, because it was his first Asean Para Games and he blazed away with a gold medal.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) he is competing in the long jump and hopes to hit pay-dirt afain.
"I went in expecting a gold and delivered it for Malaysia. I really feel special and at the top-of-the world right now," said Eddy.
He was selected based on his performance in the East Malaysia Para Athletics Championships in Kuching in August last year.
Then, Eddy won the 100m gold in 12.65s and cleared 5.71m for silver in the long jump.
"This (time) is also my personal best and I still can't believe I came out first in my Games debut. This will inspire me to train harder and lower my time," said Eddy.
The Form Four student of SMK Beluran in Sandakan's inspiration is Canadian sprinter Andre de Grasse, who won silver medal in the 200m and bronze medals in both the 100m and 4×100m relay at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
And why does he like de Grasse?
"The Canadian is such a cool runner and he always looks like he is under no pressure. I want to be like him. I want to run as cool as him. I like his style," said Eddy.
Good luck to the budding youth in the long jump today.. may he be as cool as his idol de Grasse while running for the jump.