Divers Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong will share the RM600,000 cash incentive and a monthly pension of RM3,000 following their silver medal feat at the Rio Olympic Games here.
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“We were focused on our dives and what we needed to do”.
The 23-year-old who also expressed she is proud to win Malaysia’s first medal at this Olympics will be competing in the 10m platform individual this August 17, while her partner will also be competing in the 3m springboard on Friday.
Both star divers heeded their coach Yang Zhuliang’s advice to remain calm and focused on their remaining dives by scoring a total of 344.34 points after five dives at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre. That was the first medal of any kind won by a Malaysian woman, let alone in the sport of diving. They lost out to China’s Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia, who finished the event with 354.00 points, just 0.66 points higher than the Malaysian duo.
“I am very happy because the competition was stiff and we put in all that we had learnt in training”.
This is Jun Hoong’s first Olympic win and Pandelela’s second; Pandelela won a bronze medal at 2012 London Olympics in the 10m platform diving event.
Pandelela said she and Jun Hoong have been training together for nearly two years, and were a match for other divers in worldwide championships.
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“The incentive will be over and above what she will receive from the National Sports Council”. Her parents, Pamg Heng and Harti Lamin, and elder brother Pardika Inboma, are on the way to Rio to watch her in action.
