File picture of Nur Dhabitah during a weight-training session at the Bukit Jalil National Sports Institute gym ahead of the Paris Olympics.
PARIS: National diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri has revealed that her journey to the 2024 Paris Olympics has been far from smooth, as she raced against time to refine her skills and techniques within a month's time after being awarded an unused country quota ticket to Paris.
Nur Dhabitah, who finished last in the final of the women's 3m springboard event at the Olympic Aquatic Centre on Friday (Aug 9), said she wasn't fully prepared for an Olympic-level challenge.
The 25-year-old said she was on the verge of giving up the sport after failing to qualify for the Olympics during the last qualification event, the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, in February.
Nur Dhabitah admitted that it was a challenging phase for her as she didn’t have proper competition training until the World Aquatics allocated an unused quota to Malaysia at the end of June.
"At that time, I felt like I did not want to do this (diving) anymore, to be honest. I was tired, I had to deal with everything," she said.
"Then during the two-week training camp, I tried to push myself, but there were a lot of technique issues that I had to fix because my techniques were lost. Regaining that lost technique required time, so it was very difficult.
"In the short period I had, what do you expect (in today’s event)? I am very satisfied with the results because I know I didn’t prepare much. I didn’t even expect to be in the final," the disheartened diver told Bernama.
Earlier, the five-time Asian Games medallist scored only 244.80 points overall to rank 12th after five dives, while China’s Chen Yiwen bagged the gold with 376.00 points.
Though she is an experienced diver, Nur Dhabitah said that changes in her body, experience, and technique made it difficult for her to catch up.
Meanwhile, she expressed gratitude for the support she received from the National Sports Institute (NSI), National Sports Council (NSC), and coaches, which enabled her to get through the preliminary and semi-final rounds.
"We now have a good coaching setup, with technical director Bryan Nickson Lomas and high-performance director Khairul Safwan Mansur.
"It's all new for the diving team. We are getting there, and I think we need to keep the momentum going without any changes that could be detrimental to performance.
"After returning, I want to rest first. I need time for myself. I feel I have been too hard on myself and haven’t appreciated myself enough.
"I think my body and mind need rest," she said. — Bernama
