KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — National diving queen Pandelela Rinong may boast three previous Olympic appearances, including two podium finishes, but that doesn’t mean she will take the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for granted.
If anything, it has only made her realise the importance of training hard so that she can deliver the goods when the time comes.
The 28-year-old from Kuching, Sarawak, who will be competing in her fourth consecutive Olympics, also admitted to being just as excited as the time she made her debut at the 2008 Beijing Games.
“I am still very excited and hope to do my very best, like my usual performances in competitions. Being an experienced athlete, I still feel like a normal athlete, (I) still have to train as hard as others and still do my very best.
“My advice (for others young athletes) is just to do what you usually do, but try your very best,” she said in a video clip posted on the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s (OCM) Facebook page, today.
Sharing her experience since arriving in Japan on Sunday, the 2021 Diving World Cup champion in women’s 10m platform individual event, was full of praise for the food and conducive training environment at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre and the Games Village’s surrounding area.
Pandelela, the first Malaysian diver to win an Olympic medal when she bagged 10m platform bronze at the 2012 London Games, also hopes that tonight’s opening ceremony won’t be a long and tiring affair as she plans to get a get good rest ahead of tomorrow’s training.
The 2016 Rio Games silver medallist in women’s 10m platform synchronised with Cheong Jun Hoong will begin her Tokyo campaign in the same event on Tuesday (July 27), only this time it will be with veteran Leong Mun Yee.
Pandelela will then compete in the 10m platform individual on Aug 4.
— Bernama
