Pandelela Rinong made history by winning Malaysia’s first-ever and ONLY gold medal in the women’s 10m platform final, at the FINA Diving World Cup 2021, which earned the praise of Sarawak Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
“I congratulate Pandelela for making Malaysia proud on the world stage by winning the first gold medal for our national squad this year,” he said, reported The Star.
“Her achievement has done us all proud. It is a bonus for our national squad, particularly as our athletes had gone without any competitions after almost a year.”
?? Pandelela Pamg of Malaysia is crowned World Cup Champion ??in the Women’s 10m platform final, followed by ?? Matsuri Arai ? and ?? Caeli Mckay ?.
Enjoy the World Cup Champion’s winning dives from the final program.
FULL RESULTS: https://t.co/zVR5HNtwGs#DWC2021 pic.twitter.com/8Sgv3IDJOr
— FINA (@fina1908) May 5, 2021
However, when addressing the reward Pandelela will receive from Sarawak for her achievement, he said that it was not good to always reward an athlete each time he or she won something.
“If we keep on thinking of giving rewards every time somebody gets a gold medal or achieves fame, it will not be good also because athletes normally love their sport and they are passionate about what they are doing,” he said.
“But the state will have its own way of rewarding them.”
According to Borneo Post, Abdul Karim said he had received calls from people inquiring if Pandelela will receive a Datukship in recognition of her sporting achievements, just like several other renowned athletes in Malaysia like Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Datuk Nicol David.
“My reply was, she’s only 28 years old, don’t spoil her. I mean can you imagine someone in their 20s having a Datukship? It will be very difficult for her to interact normally outside – when you got friends outside, they call you ‘Datuk’ and things like that,” he exclaimed.
“I mean let her enjoy her life. The monetary contribution from the state government will come, but we do not want to highlight it too much. We would want her to bring us more fame and for her to enjoy the sport that she loves.”
Meanwhile, he said that many young Sarawakians had shown interest in diving due to Pandelela’s achievements.
“I can see that we do have quite a number of young athletes coming up in diving from Sarawak, which probably in the next few years we would be able to see them creating waves, maybe in state or national circuits,” he said.
“I hope with this latest gold medal achieved by Pandelela, it will create more interest in diving as well as other water sports.”
Also read: “It’s a miracle!” Pandelela Rinong Brings Pride To Malaysia With First Diving World Cup Gold
