Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli

Muhammad Ziyad bin Zolkefli (born 15 March 1990) is a Malaysian Paralympic athlete who competes in T20 classification shot put events. He has represented Malaysia in multiple Paralympics, World Championships and regional games, previously holding the world record in his division.

Early life Born in Selangor, Muhammad Ziyad was diagnosed with an intellectual impairment in preschool. He attended Sekolah Menengah Teknik Tanah Merah in Kelantan, and was involved in school sports. Before joining the Malaysian National Sports Council, he sold kueh teow on Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur. He is the eldest of four siblings.

Athletics career Muhammad Ziyad first came to prominence at the 2012 London Paralympic Games, winning the bronze medal with a throw of 15.21m in the men's F20 shot put event. He won Malaysia's only gold medal at the 2013 World Para Athletics Championships in Lyon, and was recognised for his achievements as the National Paralympian Sportsman of the Year at the Anugerah Sukan Negara.

At the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Muhammad Ziyad again represented Malaysia and won the gold medal in the shot put event, setting a new world record of 16.84m. At the world championships in London the following year, he surpassed himself to again set the world record, throwing a distance of 17.29m.

He won silver at the 2024 Paralympic held in Paris with a record of 17.18m.

2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games

At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, Muhammad Ziyad represented Malaysia and won the gold medal in the shot put event, again breaking the world record with a 17.94 m throw during his third round in the final. He had initially arrived at the call room three minutes past his allocated time, but was allowed to compete. However, following an appeal from the Ukrainian team, both he and two other competitors were disqualified, invalidating the record. The ruling was upheld despite the athletes arguing that they did not recognise the relevant announcement as it was in a language they did not understand. Following his disqualification, Ukraine's Maksym Koval was awarded the gold medal and the world record. The decision was met with outcry, particularly from Malaysians. The hashtag #Ziyad trended on Twitter, with anger directed towards Koval and the IPC.

Honours Honours of Malaysia