Sarawak’s Jonah Chang wins gold in discus event, aims to end Sukma with 3rd gold in hammer throw

Jonah (centre) flanked between Riess William Ling (back row, left) and Rizad photographed with Abdul Karim (front row, second left) and other dignitaries during the medal presentation ceremony at Sarawak Stadium, Petra Jaya on Aug 21, 2024.

By Shikin Louis

KUCHING, Aug 21: Sarawakian athlete Jonah Chang has bagged a gold medal in the men’s discus throw event at the 21st Malaysia Games (Sukma) today.

The 21-year-old threw a distance of 46.16 metres, finishing ahead of Negeri Sembilan’s Riess William Ling Eng Meng (44.77m) who secured the silver medal while bronze went to Perlis’ Rizad Azri Che Radzi (41.42m).

Sarawak Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development (MYSED) Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah presented the medals to the winners after the event which took place at Sarawak Stadium, Petra Jaya here.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Jonah said he did not expect to almost reach his personal best record of 46.17m, which he achieved at the Pahang Open in June this year, missing by only 1cm difference.

Since he is still in the process of recovering from a shoulder injury, Jonah said he was satisfied with his performance today despite the rain.

“Many athletes would feel nervous when they have to compete in the rain as they are afraid of slippery surfaces and falling mid-performance.

“However, they must not think like that. They must focus only on executing their techniques,” he said.

This is Jonah’s second gold after he set a new Sukma record of 17.66m in the men’s shot put event on Monday (Aug 19), securing him his first gold medal.

Jonah hopes to bag another gold in the hammer throw event on Friday (Aug 23) but he acknowledged that he will face a ‘big fight’ from Perlis’ Rizad Azri Che Radzi.

He targets hurling the hammer a distance of 55m and to better his personal best record of 53.54m set in Terengganu in July this year.

Meanwhile, fellow compatriot Pauline Ului won a gold medal in the women’s discus throw event with a distance of 38.50m yesterday (Aug 20), beating Perak’s Farhana Izurein Faizal Amizul (38.41m) who bagged the silver while the bronze went to Selangor’s Sasha Alyssa Philip (37.62m). — DayakDaily