KUALA LUMPUR – A record-breaking high jump for the gold medal at the Hanoi SEA Games next year will be Lee Hup Wei’s last hurrah before he quits the world of sports.
That would be a dream finish for national high jump champion Hup Wei in setting a new SEA Games record to defend the gold medal and plans to wave goodbye to athletics next year.
Hup Wei, who ended an eight-year drought without gold until he struck it rich at the 2019 edition in Manila, Philippines, said the success he wanted to enjoy at the 2022 Hanoi (Vietnam) SEA Games expected next May, would not be complete without trying to make a 2.25-metre jump and thus breaking the Games record he held with 2.24m in Kuala Lumpur 2017.
“I want to give one more gold to the country and hope to break the new SEA Games record,” he said.
Apart from Hup Wei, two other national athletes also shared the same SEA Games record, namely Loo Kum Zee in the 1995 edition in Chiang Mai (Thailand) and Nauraj Singh Randhawa, also in Kuala Lumpur in 2017.
Meanwhile, the 34-year-old Hup Wei who will make the last leap in his career on the stage of the 2022 Asian Games (September), can only hope to muster his best performance in the face of a tough challenge for a medal at the Games in Hangzhou, China.
Meanwhile, Hup Wei who is preparing to face a closed tournament in Kazakhstan next February, said he has not set any medal target but what is more important is to guarantee a slot to the Asian Games and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Hup Wei, who last competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics last July, confirmed his participation in the National Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil this Sunday and only wants to achieve 2.18m in the high jump.
Asked about his decision to retire, the Kajang-born athlete pointed to the age factor.
However, Hup Wei’s involvement will not ‘disappear’ altogether, as he expresses his desire in post-retirement life to become a high jump coach to guide new talents in the future.
“Yes, I am really interested in becoming a coach after retirement, so far I have gone through the first level coaching course and will undergo the second level after this,” he said, adding that he has not been wooed by any sports association interested to secure his services as a coach. – Bernama, December 17, 2021
_Sukan_SEA_ke-32_Kemboja_mengadakan_lawatan_berjumpa_atlet_dan_jurulatih_cambodia_sea_games_-_SYEDA_IMRAN_-_2.jpg)
