KUALA LUMPUR - With less than a month before Tokyo lifts its curtains to the world’s biggest multi-sports event, 36-year-old Leong Mun Yee opined that the high-intensity training she is undergoing at the National Aquatics Centre, Bukit Jalil, is bearing fruit as she now feels better than ever before.
Mun Yee is set to feature in the women’s 10-metre (m) synchronised platform event in Tokyo with Rio 2016 silver medallist Pandelela Rinong.
“After three weeks I hope I’ll be better than now...I believe I’ll be in top condition by then,” she told a virtual press conference here, today.
Mun Yee and Pandelela secured their tickets to Tokyo after winning a silver medal in the women’s 10m synchronised platform by accumulating 312.72 points at the 18th FINA World Diving Championships in Gwangju, South Korea in July 2019.
In the meantime, the four-time Olympian is hopeful of bagging a medal in what would be her last Olympics appearance in Tokyo.
“My coach, Li Rui also wishes that I will get a medal with Pandelela,” she added.
The Ipoh-born athlete said it was not easy to make it to the Olympic Games four times, but her perseverance and hard work paid off during training since beginning diving at the age of 10, and that had helped her tremendously to achieve such an extraordinary feat.
Meanwhile, national diving coach Li Rui said the training camp is progressing well so far, as his divers have achieved 80 per cent of the preparation level ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which will be held from July 23-Aug 8.
He also expects his divers to be in much better shape in three weeks from now.
Li said he was confident that his charges had the opportunity to win medals in Tokyo based on their current performance and strength in training, but he warned them to keep an eye out for divers from other countries who might challenge them to step on the podium.
Apart from Mun Yee and Pandelela, three other divers who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics are Cheong Jun Hoong (10m individual platform), Nur Dhabitah Sabri (3m individual springboard) and Wendy Ng Yan Yee (3m individual springboard). - Bernama, 30 June, 2021
