HANGZHOU – With age comes wisdom and that is why national diving queen Datuk Pandelela Rinong knows she has to train smarter and not harder as she gears up to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
But that will not stop the 30-year-old diver from training as hard as she can and collaborating with various other parties to ensure she is in prime form to deliver quality dives and earn a spot at the 2024 Games.
“I know that if I were to focus on quantity, as in intensifying my training, I would be tired. I am aware that I am older, so I will try to focus on improving the quality of my dives instead,” she said when met at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Aquatic Sports Arena here.
Pandelela was in a buoyant mood after contributing two bronze medals to the national diving team at the Asian Games here, finishing third in the women’s 10m platform synchronised with Nur Dhabitah Sabri and the women’s 10m platform.
The Sarawakian aims to seal her Olympic qualification when she competes in the Asian Diving Cup in November – for which the venue has yet to be confirmed – and the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar next February.
Only 18-year-old Bertrand Rhodict Lises has qualified for Paris, having earned a spot in the men’s 10m platform event.
For the record, Pandelela clinched bronze in the women’s 10 platform at the 2012 London Olympics and silver in the women’s synchronised 10m platform with Cheong Jun Hoong in the 2016 Rio Olympics. – October 4, 2023