Jonathan eyes improvement
Published on: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Published on: Wed, Apr 30, 2025
By: GL Oh Text Size: Jonathan (third left) with Alissa (second left) and the others upon his arrival on Tuesday. Kota Kinabalu: Jonathan Wong Kar Gee believes there's still room for improvement despite winning the gold medal in the long jump T11/T12 event on Saturday at the 9th Marrakech 2025 World Para Athletics Grand Prix held in Morocco. He recorded a distance of 6.62 metres (m) which was well below his personal best of 7.22m to take the gold medal ahead of second placed Alex Njeru. The Kenyan had to settle for the silver with 6.16m and in third place was fellow Malaysian Mohd Saifuddin Ishak with 5.86m. 'I feel very proud that I was able to win the gold medal, but performance wise I think I can do better in the next competition. 'I have to improve on my run-up. I am not very consistent right now. Sometimes I run fast and sometimes a bit slower. 'I had a few fault jumps which I think were well over seven metres, so I need to improve on this area to build up my confidence. 'However, this was only my first competition of the year. It was just like a preparation or a warm-up for me. 'The next competition is not confirmed yet, hopefully I can join the World Championship in India in September,' he said upon his arrival from Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. The 34-year-old had earlier expressed his intention to compete for the third time at the next Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. He missed out on the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics when he finished in fourth place in the T-12 men's long jump event. He was on course for the podium finish with the distance of 6.85m recorded in his first and final attempts until Argentine Fernando Vazquez's final jump of 6.88m shattered his dream. Meanwhile, Jonathan was welcomed by Sabah Sports Council deputy director (Para-sector) Alissa Alha and other officials. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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