Pandelela is already feeling the pressure ahead of the Olympics

KUALA LUMPUR: A tough training regime and a short tomboy haircut – these are some of the things Pandelela Rinong (pic) has been put through by diving coach Yang Zhuliang in a bid to help her win Malaysia’s first-ever gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

The 18-year-old Kuching-born Pandelela, who has qualified for the women’s 10m platform event for the London Games, has also sacrificed her pre-university studies since January to focus on the world’s biggest multi-sports Games.

Pandelela, who will be featuring in her second Olympics, is already feeling the pressure although the Games are seven months away.
“Coach Yang is pushing me hard in training daily as he believes I have the potential to not only win a medal but the gold,” said Pandelela.

“I’ve definitely improved on my diving technique but the coach wants me to further improve it to achieve the elusive gold.

“This has put me under a lot of pressure as I will be up against the world best divers at the Olympics.
“It’s tough to win an Olympic medal, let alone the gold,” added Pandelela, who failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Pandelela said that she also had to cut her hair short because her coach felt that her long hair distracted her from executing the somersaults perfectly.

“The coach says that all the Chinese women divers had short hair. Although I have cut mine short, he is still unhappy and wants me to trim it further,” said Pandelela, who was the first Malaysian woman diver to win the gold medal in the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games.

Pandelela will get to train in Dali, China, for two weeks next month in preparation for the World Championships in London in February.

“I will use the world meet to qualify for two more events in the Olympics – the 3m springboard and 10m platform synchnorised,” said Pandelela, who will also feature in the four legs of the FINA World Series next year in preparation for the London Olympics.

Meanwhile, Carlsberg Malaysia announced yesterday its annual sponsorship of RM30,000 for the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM)-Carlsberg athletes’ retirement scheme for this year.

The scheme, which currently has RM3.07mil, is meant for the 88 Malaysian athletes who have won medals at the past Asian, Commonwealth and Olympic Games.



THE STAR