KUALA LUMPUR: The success of winning the SB4 100m breaststroke gold medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games last October is the catalyst for Muhammad Nur Syaiful Zulkafli (pix) to perform better at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
The country’s para swimming champ said he will start high-intensity preparations from this month to gather momentum until the prestigious Paris Games which will take place from Aug 28 to Sept 8.
Nur Syaiful said he is also scheduled to participate in a training camp in China for two months beginning in June before taking Malaysia’s challenge to Paris.
“All preparations start from now, which is this month, so from the beginning of the year until the 2024 Paralympic Games, it is my priority to stay focused until the main action in Paris. (Currently) I have 11 training sessions a week in the morning and evening,” he told Bernama today.
At the same time, the 29-year-old Sarawakian swimmer will also participate in two international competitions as a warm-up action and to check the progress of his form.
“I will participate in the Citi Para Swimming World Series in Italy next March (14-17), in addition to going to Portugal for the Madeira 2024 Para Swimming European Open Championships in April (21-27),“ he said.
In the meantime, despite not setting any medal target for Paris, Nur Syaiful is determined to do his utmost to achieve a result Malaysia can be proud of.
“I will try my best … the medal is not certain but we’ll see how my destiny plays out there,” said Nur Syaiful who finished fifth in the S5 50-metre freestyle final at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
At the Hangzhou Asian Para Games in October last year, Nur Syaiful won the SB4 (trunk and legs impairment) 100m breaststroke gold medal and pocketed the S5 100m freestyle bronze. -Bernama