Maksym Koval (born 12 December 1996) is a Ukrainian

Paralympic athlete The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about ...

. He made his maiden Paralympic appearance representing Ukraine at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

held in Tokyo, Japan.

Career

He clinched gold medal in the men's F20 shot put event during the

. Initially the gold medal in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

event was awarded to Malaysia's

Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli Muhammad Ziyad bin Zolkefli (born 15 March 1990) is a Paralympic athlete from Malaysia who competes in T20 classification shot put events. He is the current world record holder in his event. Zolkefli represented Malaysia at the 2012 Summer Pa ...

who also set a new world record twice, and broke the national record with a 17.94m throw during his 3rd throw at the final. However, he was later disqualified for not showing up on the court on time and a Ukrainian official had also shown his dissent over the gold medal being initially awarded to Zolkefli. Koval was awarded the gold medal. The incident sparked public outcry in Malaysia, and Koval was subjected to social media abuse.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koval, Maksym 1996 births Living people Ukrainian male shot putters Paralympic gold medalists for Ukraine Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic athletes for Ukraine Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics World Para Athletics Championships winners