NANJING, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- The participation of world class athletes at the 2nd Youth Olympic Games (YOG 2014) here has not dampened the spirit of national triple jumper Kirthana Ramasamy to bring home a medal.
Kirthana, who starts competing in the preliminary round at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre Stadium this Friday, said she was fully ready to face the challenge and would strive hard to qualify to the quarter finals first.
"If I am qualified for the quarter finals, then I will have the chance to compete in the semi-finals and win a medal," she told Bernama here Sunday.
The gold medalist, who recorded a jump of 13.06m distance at the Asian Athletics Qualifying Meet in Thamassat, Thailand last May, said she hoped to win at least at the semi-finals.
"My best personal record is 13.06m and I hope to improve the jump to 13.08m or 13.10m this Friday," she said.
The athlete, who will be sitting for her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination this year, said nevertheless she aimed to win a gold medal at YOG 2014.
"It is the dream of every athlete to win a gold medal because it is a yardstick to evaluate the level of achievement for an athlete, regardless if it is a sports event or not," she said.
Better known as 'Kirth' by her team mates, she said her experience at YOG 2014 would become an important factor for her to compete in future championships after this meet.
"Even though I have yet to start competing, there are many new things that I can learn from other athletes that cannot be imparted from other championships," she said.
Apart from Kirthana, two other Malaysian athletes competing at YOG 2014 are Mohd Rizza Haizad who will be running the 110 metres hurdles and long jumper Norshafiee Mohd Shah.
From Ahmad Muliady Abdul Majid -- BERNAMA
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