KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Former Olympic diving sensation Pandelela Rinong Pamg credits grassroots competitions such as the biennial Sukan Malaysia, better known as Sukma, as the reason for her illustrious career.

The former Rio Olympics silver medalist from Sarawak recently shared a pivotal moment from her early career on X (formerly known as Twitter) in a long series of posts detailing her history with Sukma.

She recounted how a last-minute technical error nearly led her to quit the sport in 2004, two years before her first Sukma event in Kedah in 2006.

“In 2004, during the Sukma Negeri Sembilan, I faced a pivotal moment in my career,” Pandelela began.

She had been eager to join the senior team for the event and had packed her new luggage early in anticipation.

On the day of her flight, her mother was driving her to the airport when they received a call from her coach, Wang Jin Lan.

“They didn’t book your air ticket,” the coach informed them.

Upon hearing those words, Pandelela’s excitement turned to tears.

Overwhelmed with embarrassment and disappointment, she could hardly remember the rest of the conversation.

Just days before, she had confidently asked for school leave and told her classmates about her participation in Sukma 2004.

As they drove back home, her mother tried to console her, although Pandelela could sense her mother’s sadness too.

She was advised to rest until the Sukma team returned, but during that period, she decided to quit diving.

Close to quitting

The humiliation weighed heavily on her, and she started living like a normal student. She enjoyed going home earlier in the afternoon and no longer had to train late into the evening.

“Twice during those times, I talked to my parents (who tried) to persuade me to continue diving. I still said no, my ego was quite high for an 11-year-old.

“Then, one weekend afternoon, my dad drove my whole family and stopped by at the training centre, saying he needed to meet my diving coach for something urgent.

“When he returned to the car, he said the coach was going to penalise me for quitting, RM10,000 to be exact, because I broke some rules as a state diver,” she wrote.

Feeling pressured and knowing her family was not well off, Pandelela returned to training the very next day, apologising to her coach and promised not to quit ever again.

She went on to win three gold and two silvers two years later in the Sukma 2006 diving events.

Only then did her father confess that the penalty story was a lie and that he was in cahoots with her coach.

“I was dumbfounded at how gullible I was,” she said.

Instead of being angry, the diver said she was grateful to him and her coach.

“Thanks to that, I’ve been a diver for 23 years and am still diving because I still love it. Also, I want to keep my promise to Coach Wang for as long as I can.”

The diver added, "Sukma may not mean much to people who don’t play sport competitively, but it was a big dream for me back then, a stepping stone to dream something bigger after that,” she added.

In a career spanning more than two decades, her best achievements include a gold medal at the Fina Diving World Cup in 2021 in the 10m platform event, a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics in the women’s 10m platform, and a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 in the 10m platform synchronised event with Cheong Jun Hoong.

Pandelela has failed to qualify for this year’s Paris 2024 Olympics. Malaysia will be represented by Nur Dhabitah Sabri in the 3m springboard and debutant Bertrand Rhodict Lises in the men’s 10m platform event.

The Paris 2024 Olympics kicks off on July 26 and runs until August 11. Apart from diving, Malaysia has another 19 representatives competing in badminton, cycling, archery, shooting, sailing, and golf.

Sarawak are the hosts of this year’s Sukma from August 17 until August 24. Several events have been called off due to financial constraints while Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor hoped that Sarawak would bear part of the cost of sending the state’s contingent to the Sukma to ease their burden.

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has expressed her disappointment that many events involving women were cancelled due to lack of participation stemming from financial constraints. She said such cancellations will stunt the growth of sports and the progress of young athletes.

She also said it would be unfair to ask Sukma organisers to bear the costs of sending other state’s contingents to Sarawak.