Malaysians would be delighted to learn that in the wee hours on Friday, our country's flag bearer for the London Olympics lived up to expectations by winning a bronze medal in the women's 10m Platform at the London Aquatic Centre -- a first for diving.

I was one of the many Malaysians who stayed up to watch the 19-year-old Sarawakian, who initially had a poor start.

She managed to claw her way back to accumulate 359.20 points behind Australian Brittany Broben (366.50) and Chen Ruolin of China, who "ran away" with the gold after collecting 422.30 points.

Pandelela's first dive, a forward 31/2 somersault, netted only 58.50 points and put her in 10th spot after the first round. But subsequent dives with 64.0 (armstand, back double somersault, 11/2 twist), 81.6 (inward 31/2 somersault) and 76.8 (back-half somersault, 11/2 twist) points saw her back in contention for a medal.

After the first dive, her coach, Yang Zhuliang, gave her a pep talk to forget the mistake and stay focused on the following dives.

Pandelela dedicated her bronze medal to the diving team and to fellow Malaysians, who stood by her and supported her all the way.

This will be the beginning of a new chapter in Malaysian sports and will create a positive mindset that greater things can be achieved in other events like cycling, badminton and diving.

The government should channel money to develop youthful talent in sport, which will produce good returns for the country.

It would be great to see our other finalist, Yeoh Ken Nee, who finished 10th in the 3m individual springboard event, be drafted as a coach after his announced retirement.