TOKYO: Para athlete Siti Noor Iasah Mohamad Ariffin plans to open a sports massage centre after deciding to retire from the world of sports following her last appearance at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, last Tuesday.
Apart from focusing on her family, the 32-year-old Johor-born runner said that opening a sports massage centre was part of her long-term retirement plans for the future.
“God willing, I plan to open a massage centre in Johor later. I have learned about massage in-depth and based on my experience of being a sports athlete, I know how to massage properly on the injured parts of the body.
“I’ve also taken sports massage courses outside, so I hope people can support my business later,“ she told Bernama.
Siti Noor Iasah who had to run in rainy weather during the women’s 400m T20 (intellectual disability) final event at the Olympic Stadium finished last with a time of 61.05s.
The event was won by Breanna Clark of the United States who broke the world record with a time of 55.18s, while the silver medal went to Yuliia Shuliar of Ukraine with a time of 56.18s and the bronze to Jardenia Felix Barbosa Da Silva of Brazil with 57.43s.
Siti Noor Iasah also expressed disappointment over her inability to fulfil the request of her daughter, Nur Iman Qaisara, 9, who wanted to see her perform well in Tokyo.
“I’m sorry, mama couldn’t run fast. My daughter has been my source of inspiration to compete and I always took along for my training since she was little,“ she said, almost in tears.
She is also grateful to have strong support from her family members throughout her involvement in sports since she started representing the country at the age of 13.
She said that age was a factor for her inability to outdo the other runners who were much younger than her and this also led to her decision to say goodbye to the world of athletics.
Five years ago, Siti Noor Iasah missed out on a bronze medal when Polish runner Barbara Niewiedzial pipped her at the finish line in the final of the same event at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.- Bernama
