Pandelela said the support services given by the sports science team in two Olympic Games, namely the London Olympics in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, helped her contribute medals at the events.
“It is hoped that after this the support services will be more consistent, not sometimes available and at other times not … in London and Rio, we had masseurs and sports biomechanics but for Tokyo 2020 we had no such services.
“Divers also need video analysis during training and competitions. If you want consistent results but there is no support, it is difficult. I am not getting any younger,” she told reporters at the 58th Malaysian Invitational Age Group (MIAG) diving championships here today.
Pandelela made history by becoming the country’s first female athlete to contribute a medal when she won a bronze in the women’s 10m platform event at the 2012 Olympic Games. This was followed by a silver in the women’s 10m synchronised platform event in partnership with Cheong Jun Hoong at the 2016 edition.
Last month, the ministry of youth and sports (KBS) announced the formation of a team for the RTG national project which aims to coordinate efforts for a maiden gold medal at the Olympic Games.
In the meantime, the athlete from Sarawak is confident that the national junior divers are capable of maintaining Malaysia’s dominance in the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
In January, the diving contingent’s assistant coach Leong Mun Yee announced that elite divers would not be participating in Cambodia in order to make way for young divers to gain exposure at the international level.
Earlier today, Pandelela lived up to expectations when she won gold in the women’s 10m platform event by collecting 326.05 points. Her compatriot from Sarawak Eilisha Rania Abrial Rajagopal won silver with 235 points, while Singapore’s Ong Rei En won the bronze with 208.25 points.
Commenting on her performance today, Pandelela said she was relieved to be back in action after last competing at the International Swimming Federation (Fina) Diving Grand Prix (GP) last November.
She said this competition was a platform to prepare herself to take on the challenge at the 2023 Diving World Cup in Montreal, Canada from May 5 to 7.
Meanwhile, national divers also dominated the podium of the men’s 10m platform event as Bertrand Rhodict collected 404.15 points to win gold, beating Jellson Jabilin who took silver (372.10 points) and Enrique Maccartney who won the bronze (338.75 points).