Dhabitah ready to inspire more girls to take up diving

TOKYO: Having stolen the hearts of Malaysians with her commendable performances and radiant smile at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, national diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri is ready to inspire more young girls to take up the sport.

The 22-year-old from Kuala Lumpur said she was ready to play the role of an ambassador for her beloved aquatic sport so as to encourage a new generation of girl divers.

"With my performance in the Olympics, I hope many young girls will try out diving," she said in a video clip posted on the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) Facebook page today.

"I think we need more divers and competitions... Need to compete against each other more, not just among the juniors, even juniors can compete with the seniors, to get the game mode on," she added.

In the women's 3-metre springboard individual final on Sunday (Aug 1), Nur Dhabitah came close to winning the bronze medal before ending up fourth with 326.15 points, behind reigning champion Shi Tingmao (383.50 pts), Wang Han (348.75 pts), both from China, and American Krysta Palmer (343.75 pts).

Nur Dhabitah, who was trending on social media platforms for her mega-watt smile after every dive, said: "I didn't do that on purpose, just tried to relax and tried to enjoy the game, show no fear."

She even managed to get some valuable tips from the springboard expert Tingmao, who has now won four Olympics and eight World Championship gold medals in total.

"I can't say we are close, but we talk to each other. She is very friendly and I did ask her how to get better in few things. She did give some advice, very helpful and I hope I can use it in training after I am back from the Olympics," she said.

Nur Dhabitah, multiple medallists at the Asian and Commonwealth Games, hopes to continue improving further as she targets the 2024 Paris Olympics, apart from considering taking a shot at the 10m platform event.

After months of quarantine-based training under the sports bubble concept, she admitted that seeing participants from other countries and walking around the Games Village managed to help relieve all the stress of competition.

-- BERNAMA