The 24-year-old strongman said the presence of his brother Bryan Junency Gustin, 26, who will compete in the 80kg event, was a motivational factor for him to finally win his maiden gold medal at the Games and ensure that Malaysia’s national anthem, “Negaraku”, could reverberate in the hall.

Bonnie, a dwarf-sized powerlifter, standing at only 132cm from Serian, Sarawak, making only his second appearance at the Asian Para Games, bagged the gold medal when he lifted 230kg – which is also a new Games record – in the Xiaoshan Gymnasium.

The record was previously held by Iranian powerlifter Roohallah Rostami with a 229kg lift.

“Bryan’s presence helped me in winning this gold medal. I hope this gold will inspire him to win a medal for his events later,” Bonnie told Bernama.

“In any case, I am very happy with today’s success because I also broke the APG record.”

The silver medal went to home challenger Hu Peng with a lift of 208kg while the bronze was won by Uzbekistan’s Jamilov Bekzod with 204kg.

Bonnie’s success today brings Malaysia’s gold medal tally to five, with swimming and track cycling each contributing one gold medal and athletics contributing two.