Yan Yee dedicates SEA Games gold medal to her mom

HANOI: National women's diver, Ng Yan Yee dedicated the gold medal she won at the 31st South East Asian (SEA) Games to her mother in celebration of Mother's Day last Sunday.

Yan Yee said her mother was the most important individual to her and had supported her throughout her career as an athlete.

The 29-year-old gold medallist said her achievement was also dedicated to all mothers in the world who have sacrificed so much for their children to succeed in their lives.

"This gold medal is special because it's an individual event and also it's Mother's Day, so it's for my mom who has always supported me no matter what, especially when I was sad and wanted to quit. Everyone knows how I dived in Tokyo (Olympics) and I'm grateful that I'm slowly coming up back even though I'm old.

"This also for all the moms, everyone knows how hard to become a mom so I'm thankful that we are here and we managed to get a gold medal and then, everybody stay safe and sound," she said when met after the women's 3 metre (m) springboard final at My Dinh Aquatic Centre here today.

In the finals, Yan Yee lived up to predictions by defeating seven other contenders to bring home the goal while compatriot Ong Ker Ying took the silver, leaving the bronze to Singaporean Fong Kay Yian.

It is her second individual gold medal in the biennial games after winning the women's synchronised 3m springboard event with Ker Ying yesterday.

Yan Yee added that she has not thought about her plans after the games, but was preparing for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games scheduled from July 28 till Aug 8.

"I will continue training and studying like usual and let's see how, because of the pandemic, everything's changed and the 2022 Asian Games have also been postponed. So we will only train for the Commonwealth Games and the World Championship," the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) student said.

-- BERNAMA