KUALA LUMPUR: National diver Kimberly Bong is being positive after almost certainly not having a chance to realise her dream of competing at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Kimberly said she was not disheartened after learning that her chances of competing in Paris were closed after her name was not listed in the Olympic events at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar next February.
The 21-year-old Sarawak-born diver who will compete in the women’s 1 meter (m) springboard event in Doha said she still has a long way to go and aims to make her Olympic debut at the 2028 edition in Los Angeles, United States (LA28).
“I think it’s not really a problem (not competing in Paris 2024) because I have a long way to go, since senior also I don’t think they can stay as long as possible because of age and other stuff. As a junior I think I need to step up, I need to be ready for the next Olympics.
“There are no hard feelings, it’s a sport, we fight and we lose, sometimes we just have to get back up…for next Olympics in 2028, four years is a long way to go, it’s not impossible (qualify for LA28),” she said when met at the Malaysia Open Diving Championship 2023 at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil here today.
The World Aquatic Championships in Doha is a competition that offers slots to Paris 2024. Currently, Nur Dhabitah Sabri and Wendy Ng are the country’s mainstays in the women’s 3m springboard event.
Kimberly won the women’s 3m springboard gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia last May and finished sixth in the finals of the event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games last month.
Earlier, at the tournament here, Kimberly lived up to the prediction of winning the gold medal in the women’s 3m springboard event after collecting a total of 269.40 points.
The silver medal was won by Clara Liaw of Singapore after collecting 216.80 points while the bronze went to Chan Tsz Ming of Hong Kong with 213.10 points.
Meanwhile, Igor Myalin-Vyacheslav Kachanov of Uzbekistan grabbed gold in the men’s 3m synchronised springboard after collecting a total of 335.94 points to beat Indonesian pair Adityo Restu Putra-Tri Anggoro Priambodo who had to settle for silver after collecting 328.62 points.
Bronze went to the young national pair of Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohamad Nazim-Yong Rui Jie after collecting 320.67 points.
In the mixed 10m synchronised platform event involving two pairs, national pair Nur Eilisha Rania Muhammad Abrar Raj-Jellson Jabilin won the gold with a record of 266.16 points, beating Jared Aiden Harold-Nurul Farisya Affendi of Sarawak who scored 197.28 points for second place.-Bernama
