MALAYSIAN diving queen Pandelela Rinong today apologised for failing to secure a spot in the Paris Olympics 2024.
In a social media post, the 30-year-old said her failure to qualify for the Olympics at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar would serve as a lesson to move forward.
"Despite my best efforts preparing for the World Aquatics Championships ... the good and the bad ... I will take them as a lesson moving forward.
"I sincerely want to thank everyone for their support in my Olympics qualifying journey, and please forgive me as I could not keep my promise this time around," she said.
No matter what, Pandelela said she will keep her chin up and bounce back stronger in future competitions.
"I am not done yet and will continue trusting in God's plan," she added.
Pandelela was unable to advance to the semi-finals of the women's 10m platform individual event and missed out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics in the discipline at the Doha World Aquatic Championships recently.
She placed 29th from 46 divers in the preliminaries at the Hamad Aquatics Complex after scoring a 72.00, 39.15, 59.20, 38.40 and 22.40 series for a 231.15 total score.
She thus missed the top-18 cut for the semi-finals.
Pandelela and Nur Dhabitah Sabri also failed in their bid for a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics after finishing 12th in the 10m platform synchronised diving event.
To qualify for the Olympics, Pandelela-Dhabitah needed to finish in the top four in the competition.
Pandelela has competed in four editions of the Olympic Games, namely Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
In London 2012, the Sarawakian created history by becoming the first national woman athlete to deliver a medal at the Olympics, winning bronze in the women’s 10m platform individual.
Four years later, in Rio de Janeiro, Pandelela won a silver with Cheong Jun Hoong in the women’s 10m platform synchronised event. - The Vibes, February 12, 2024
