Pakistani athlete Haider Ali on Friday made history by winning a gold medal in the discus throws competition at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games.
He becomes the first-ever Pakistani to create such history for the first time ever.
Ali achieved a 55.26-meter throw at his fifth attempt out of a total of six to score the best distance — almost 3m longer than Ukraine’s Mykola Zhabnyak who scored 52.43m to come in second place, according to Radio Pakistan.
Brazilian Joao Victor Teixeira de Souza Silva won bronze with a throw of 51.86m.
The official Paralympics Games accounted posted on Twitter that the attempt was a “personal best” for Ali.
Celebrating his win, the athlete said the gold medal would be “very important” for para-sports in Pakistan since others would be able to see what can be achieved through hard work.
“I hope to be a role model for other people that have a disability [and who] don’t compete in sports to take part in para-sports,” he said.
