KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin has set his sights on defending his gold medal at the Paris Paralympics from Aug 28-Sept 8.
The 25-year-old, who won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, aims to maintain his world No.1 position in the men's below 72kg event and break his world record of 231kg.
"I'm in a prepared state now. I have made thorough preparations to give my best, especially with the goal of breaking my own record," said Bonnie
"To defend the gold medal comes with its own pressure, but I will strive to reclaim the champion title, even though my current position is not very comfortable."
Bonnie set the world record of 231kg at the 2023 World Para Powerlifting Championships, with a whopping 29kg lead over runner-up Donato Telesca of Italy.
Bonnie's coach, Jamil Adam, said he needs to be wary of Telesca, and their target is to break the world record in Paris.
"From what I gathered, the Italian athlete can lift around 220kg, and Bonnie needs to do more than that (230kg). The gap is quite significant, but in competition, anything can happen. We just need to avoid mistakes," said Jamil.
"We aim to break the competition record and the world record. If we achieve it, we will get the gold medal."
Bonnie set the new Paralympic record of 228kg to clinch Malaysia's first powerlifting gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics. He followed up his spectacular run by winning the 2021 world title in Georgia with a new record of 230kg.
In 2022, Bonnie won the lightweight gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. He earned 154.6 points — a new Games record — with lifts of 210kg, 216kg and 220kg.