KUALA LUMPUR: The national diving squad today ended the World Aquatic Championships campaign in Doha, Qatar without a medal and with stark reality that there will be no familiar Malaysian faces on the women’s diving platform this time at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The qualifying action of the men's 10-metre platform saw two national divers Enrique Maccartney Harold and Jellson Jabillin finish in 27th (340.40 points) and 32nd positions respectively (318.10 points) out of 45 competitors.
They also failed to place themselves in the group of 12 best divers in the individual event to earn a ticket to Paris.
In fact, the biggest surprise at this edition was that national diving queen and two-time medal winner Datuk Pandelela Rinong and two other national hopefuls Nur Dhabitah Sabri (pix) and Wendy Ng Yan Yee missing the flight to compete in Paris.
The disappointing result in Doha makes Bertrand Rhodict Lises the only Malaysian diver to qualify on merit for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the men’s 10m platform after securing a slot at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, last year.
Since the 2000 edition, Malaysia have had at least three representatives in Olympic diving competitions, while the 2012 London and 2016 Rio editions saw six and seven divers respectively.
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games is scheduled from July 26 to Aug 11. -Bernama
