Sacrifices pay off as Nur Syaiful splashes to record-breaking gold

KUALA LUMPUR: Five months away from his family paid dividend for national para swimming ace Nur Syaiful Zulkafli as he defended his men's 100-metre breaststroke SB4 gold medal in record-breaking fashion at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games.

The 31-year-old Sarawakian clocked 1 minute 41.44 seconds at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium to deliver Malaysia's first swimming gold medal of the Games on Wednesday.

Nur Syaiful broke his own Games record twice in a single day, first posting 1:41.55s in the heats before lowering it again in the final. His previous Games mark of 1:46.78s was set at the 2022 Hangzhou edition.

Kazakhstan's Ali Turganbekov claimed silver in 1:44.26s, while India's Rohit Kumar settled for bronze in 1:57.25s.

"The sacrifices I made have paid off," said Nur Syaiful, who revealed he had not returned home to Sarawak for nearly five months in order to focus fully on training.

"To achieve this success today makes it all worthwhile. Breaking the record twice was a bonus for me."

His preparations were further complicated by a long-standing spinal cord injury, which requires careful management to avoid severe pain.

Nur Syaiful said he would take two to three days to recover before gradually increasing the intensity of his training again.

"Competing with a spinal injury is very tricky. Just one wrong move can trigger severe pain," he said.

"My deepest thanks go to the Youth and Sports Ministry, National Sports Council, National Sports Institute, my sponsors, and especially my wife and children who have given me constant encouragement every step of the way."