Mary wins discus as all medallists break record

KUCHING (Sept 23): Sarawak’s Mary Bada was one of three women who broke the women’s discus F40 (short stature) record today. The 40-year-old threw to a distance of 10.66m to surpass the previous record of 9.36m set by Sarawak’s Cordiria Nyoted in 2018.

“This is my first time participating in Para Sukma, and winning a gold medal is incredible. I hope to compete in the Southeast Asian Games (ASEAN Para Games) next,” Mary told reporters at the Sarawak State Stadium.

Also smashing the old record were fellow Sarawakian Noor Zaidah Dahlan (10.40m) who secured the silver while Sabah’s Fredechi Asri won bronze with 9.56m.

Mary is the elder sister of Richard Bada who won the first gold medal at this 21st Para Sukma in the men’s discus F41 (short stature). She expressed confidence that her training could land her two other gold medals in the shot put and javelin.

Medals for the event were presented by Sarawak deputy chef de mission and Opar assemblyman Billy Sujang.