Why Siti Noor Radiah's Bronze At Rio Paralympics Matters As Much As The Gold For Malaysia

The fact that Siti won the Bronze is by no means a small feat. It was, in fact, an incredible display of years of training and a determined focus to not just do well but outperform herself, considering the factor that she was competing against top three winners in the event from the IPC Para Athletics World Championships in Doha.

Croatia's Mikela Ristoski, who took the Gold with 5.79m, was the silver medallist in Doha. Poland's Karolina Kucharczyk, who jumped a distance of 5.55m to clinch the Silver, is the world record holder at 6.09m and the defending champion from the London Paralympics four years ago, where she set the Paralympic record of 6.00m. Only Ukraine's Olena Rozdobudko, who had won the Bronze in Doha, came at the fifth.

"It was a very strong field and we can't expect more from her. We knew she was capable of breaking the Asian record but to get a medal is just fantastic," The Star Online reported R. Jaganathan as saying after Siti's incredible feat that saw the young Johorian also breaking her Asian Para Games record of 5.10m set in Incheon.

"This is a gift for Malaysia. I did my best here. I tried to improve on my best achievement at the ASEAN Para Games (in Singapore last year). This is the result," Siti said in a WhatsApp message to Bernama.

Siti, who made her debut appearance at the Paralympics, had not expected to compete at the Rio Paralympic Games.

"Actually, I did not think I would be able to compete here. I wish to thank my coach who helped me a lot, my family, supporters and Malaysians who prayed and encouraged me. This is the reward," The Malays Mail Online reported her as saying to Bernama.