KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s youngest Olympian in Rio de Janeiro, Nur Dhabitah Sabri,17, is harbouring hopes of winning a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
She performed more consistently her senior, Pandelela Rinong,23, after ending in ninth place, overcoming the silver medalist in 2012 London Olympics, who was in 11th place, in the final of the 10m individual platform event.
“I have set a target to win a medal in Tokyo because I have done my best in Rio. I plan to do better in Tokyo,” she said when met by Bernama. Nur Dhabitah said she would improve on her diving techniques and would train seriously from now on. During the meeting with Bernama, the diver shared stories of her sacrifices and challenges since becoming a national athlete at a young age.
“After I qualified for Rio, I was forced to be away from my family because the (national) diving squad was in China in preparation for the Olympics.”
On her feelings when performing at Rio Olympics, Nur Dhabitah said it was difficult to express.
“Each time I performed my event, I did it to the best of my ability because I dared not disappoint millions of Malaysians. Furthermore, the feeling that I was fighting for the nation was very strong, as it was in Merdeka month.”
Nur Dhabitah said she could not join the national diving squad to continue training in China next month because she has to prepare for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination this year.
“I will focus on my studies first. Furthermore, the training centre at Bukit Jalil cannot be used as it is being renovated for the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games,” she said. --Bernama