ISLAMABAD: Pakistani athlete Haider Ali won the country’s first-ever gold medal at the Paralympic Games with a top podium finish in the discus throw event at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics on Friday.
Two decorated Pakistani athletes are in Japan to participate in the 2020 Summer Paralympics which began last week: all-rounder para-athlete Haider Ali, who has cerebral palsy, and discus thrower Anila Izzat Baig, the first female athlete from Pakistan to compete at the games. Baig has an impairment to her leg as a result of polio, which she contracted at age three.
“It’s Gold for #PAK!” the official Twitter handle of the games said. “F37 discus thrower Haider Ali wins his country’s first medal of the Games!”
“His throw of 55.26m is a personal best and almost three meters longer than second place!”
The Paralympic Games, which began as a small gathering in 1948, have gradually evolved into one of the largest and most inclusive competitions for athletes with disabilities to compete on the world stage.
Organizers of the Paralympic Games have said that the event is more than a sports competition, and repeatedly cast it as a way to draw attention to the 15 percent of the global population with impairments.
Ali, 37, hails from Gujranwala in Pakistan’s Punjab province. He has been participating in international competitions for about 15 years and representing Pakistan since 2006, he told Arab News in an interview last month. His memorable achievements include creating history at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, where he won Pakistan’s first ever Paralympic games medal, a silver, in the F37/38 long jump.
Ali clinched gold in the F38 long jump event and bronze in the T-38 100-meters dash at the 2010 Asian Para Games held in Guangzhou, China. He also won gold for Pakistan in the long jump event at the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled that were held in Malaysia in 2006.
“My family was and continues to be supportive of me both financially and otherwise,” he said. “The National Paralympics Committee of Pakistan is also there.”
Asked about government support, Ali said: “For 15 years, I have faced many hurdles. During this period, I received 30 percent support from the government and 70 percent was my own effort.”
