Sarawakian athlete, Jonah Chang, smashed his own national record with a 19.12m throw to become the first Malaysian to surpass the 19-metre mark.
Malaysian shot putter Jonah Chang has etched his name into the country’s athletics history after becoming the first Malaysian to throw beyond 19 metres.
Competing at the Qosanov Memorial Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Tuesday, Jonah recorded a career-best throw of 19.12m to claim the silver medal at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meet.
New national record
The 19.12m effort eclipsed Jonah’s previous national record of 18.81m, which he set at the Asian Throwing Championships in Mokpo, South Korea, in May.
His latest throw improved the national record by 31cm and marked another milestone for the SEA Games gold medallist, who topped the men’s shot put event at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand. Georgia’s Giorgi Mujaridze won gold with a throw of 19.99m, while Kazakhstan’s Ivan Ivanov took bronze with 18.67m in a field of 19 athletes.
Asian Games qualification still out of reach
Despite the record-breaking performance, national athletics coach Manshahar Abdul Jalil said Jonah narrowly missed the qualifying standard for the Asian Games, which stands at 19.74m.
However, he is still expected to compete at the Games under the Category B qualification pathway. Manshahar described Jonah’s achievement as a major milestone, noting that he is now the first Malaysian male athlete to break the 19-metre barrier in the shot put.
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