PUTRAJAYA – Teenage waterskier Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah created history when she became the first Asian woman to win a medal in any waterski event on a world stage on Friday.
The achievement comes after she clinched a bronze medal at the World Games held at Oak Mountain State Park Lake in Birmingham, Alabama in her favourite tricks event.
Aaliyah competed in a select elite-level field of seven skiers where she finished in the top three with a score of 7,960 behind Canada’s Neilly Ross (9,690) and United States’ Anna Gay (9,190).
It has been an excellent finish for the 19-year-old who is showing that she is not too far off from her generational rivals, having competed against both Ross and Gay when she was younger.
“My coach Larry (Gisler) and I have been working so hard for the past four weeks in Florida just for this moment.
“All I have achieved here at the World Games so far is really just so overwhelming for me.
“And honestly I am really just happy to be here competing against the best skiers in the world,” said Aaliyah.
Her score in the final was also a consistent mark and just shy of her personal best of 8,080 which she achieved during the Fluid Summer Showdown in Florida in June.
A Yayasan Sime Darby Star Scholarship recipient, Aaliyah was also a late addition to the jump event on Saturday and made a strong impression as she reached the final and finished fifth.
She equalled her personal best of 41.9m in the preliminaries before leaping to a distance of 41.6m in the final.
United States’ Lauren Morgan took the gold with a distance of 52.7m followed by Canada’s Taryn Grant (50.1m) and Chile’s Valentina Gonzalez (46.6m).
Aaliyah’s achievements are also a huge boost to her rankings as she is now expected to climb to number 10 in the world in tricks from number 12.
Ever since she broke into the scene as an eight-year-old at the 2011 SEA Games in Palembang, it has been huge progress for the youngster who is gradually transitioning into a world-level competitor.
Aaliyah will be returning to Malaysia after the World Games and looking forward to her next competition, which will be the Asian Championships in South Korea from August 8-13 and the Oceanian Championships in Australia from November 17-20.
“I wasn’t in the best physical shape for the jump final so I didn’t push for any extra distance and settled for a safe score.
“After this, I’ll be preparing for the Asian Championships and I certainly hope to achieve high podium positions in all four disciplines of open women’s tricks, slalom, jump and overall.
“I’ll try and go for my jump record at the Oceania meet in November and after that, I should be well positioned in my world rankings for the year,” added Aaliyah. – The Vibes, July 18, 2022
