Malaysia boleh! 😀
Malaysian divers Cheong Jun Hoong and 2012 London olympics bronze medallist Pandelela Rinong won Malaysia’s first medal at the Rio Olympic Games after securing silver in the women’s 10m platform synchronised on Tuesday.
Jun Hoong-Pandelela scored 344.34 points, finishing second behind China’s Chen Ruolin-Liu Huixia (354.00). Third in place were Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito-Roseline Filion with 336.18 points. They were never out of the medal places in all five dives.
It’s also just been announced that both Pandelela and Cheong will be getting a monthly pension of RM3,000 for life, and will be sharing a RM600,000 incentive for their win.
“We are so proud to have won Malaysia’s first medal at this Olympics,” said Pandelela, 23.
“There was pressure but we told ourselves to keep calm and focus on doing what we had been doing in training. I am so glad that our hard work has paid off,” added Pandelela.
After her win, she also updated her Facebook page and also commended Jun Hoong.
Jun Hoong missed out on a medal in the 3m springboard synchronised with Nur Dabitah Sabri on Sunday, so this silver medal win is even sweeter.
“I told myself to forget what had happened in the 3m event and to focus on the 10m platform. Every day is a new day and my focus was on performing in the 10m platform,” said Jun Hoong, 26.
They will both be competing in the 10m platform individual on Aug 17 while Jun Hoong will be competing in the 3m springboard on Friday.
