KUALA LUMPUR: Sprinter Zulhaizat Zainal Abidin cried when his parents forbid him from taking up sports but determined to make it the focus of his life, Zulhaizat begged them and managed to get their permission.
Today, Zulhaizat showed his parents the gold medal he won in the men's 400m T13 (visually impaired) event at the Kuala Lumpur Asean Para Games.
The Bachok-born crossed the line in 54.80 seconds at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil to deny Thailand's Chakkrawan Premruedichaisak (57.31s) and Vietnam's Tran Manh Tung (57.76s), who settled for silver and bronze.
The Asean Para Games debutant is hoping his parents are happy with his success but admitted he did not expect to win the gold.
"My parents did not want me to be active in sports as they wanted me to focus on my education and finish school," said the 19-year-old.
"I cried and told them that there was no guarantee I would be successful if I continued my studies but I was confident I would (be successful) in sports.
"I quit Form Six to focus on my training and this medal is the result of all that hard work as well as the prayers and blessings from my parents."
His mother Nora Nor is a housewife while his father Zainal Abidin Mohamad is a fishmonger.
Zulhaizat added that he is hoping follow in the footsteps of Ziyad Zolkefli, Ridzuan Puzi and Abdul Latif Romly and win medals at the Paralympics, starting at the 2020 Tokyo games.
Additional reporting by Mohd Khairie Khalid and Haika Khazi
Translated from Berita Harian