Commonwealth Games: Bonnie makes history with para powerlifting gold for Malaysia

Bonnie Bunyau Gustin created a new Commonwealth Games record en route to his para powerlifting gold medal on Thursday.

Competing in the men's lightweight category, the two-time world champion and Tokyo 2020 gold medalist immediately set a Games record of 147.6 points by lifting 210kg on his first attempt.

He does it AGAIN!! ???Second attempt and second Games record for ??Bonnie Bunyau Gustin.?️‍♂️216kg and it's is a new @thecgf record??@TeamMsia @MSNMALAYSIA @olympicmas @birminghamcg22 pic.twitter.com/cpQCyJVMWV
— #ParaPowerlifting (@Powerlifting) August 4, 2022

He went on to surpass it again with subsequent lifts and eventually achieved 154.6 points with a 220kg lift — 10kg short of the world record of 230kg he set n 2021.

England's Mark Swan (145.5 points) and Nigeria's Innocent Nnamdi (132.5 points) joined Bonnie on the podium.

With the victory, he also ended Nigeria's dominance in the event since the sport was included at the Commonwealth Games in 2002.

His success won Malaysia's fourth gold medal in the 2022 edition so far after the badminton team and weighlifters Aniq Kasdan and Aznil Bidin.

Cheok Kon Fatt (2012 bronze) and Jong Yee Khie (2014 bronze and 2018 silver) were previously the only para powerlifters to win medals for Malaysia.