KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Bernama) — Uplifting the standard of living of her family is one of the main goals of Kedah athlete Nurul Farhah Natasya Che Wan who sacrificed her younger days by working tirelessly to carve a name for herself in the sports arena.
After five years of relentless training, today, all the sacrifices of the 17-year-old bore fruit when she clinched her first gold medal in the Malaysian Para Games (Para Sukma) 2022 at the National Sports Council (MSN) Mini Stadium in Bukit Jalil, here.
Although this edition is her debut, the Langkawi-born athlete had no problems showing her best performance to top the F12 (visual impairment) Women’s Long Jump event with a distance of 4.35 metres (m).
“My family do not have an easy life, I’m not very good at studies, so what I’m good at is sports. My main goal is to represent Malaysia and change the fate of my family.
“I want to buy a house, a car and give money to my mother and father. I love them. For the sake of success I am willing to do anything,” she said, holding back tears when met by Bernama after the medal presentation ceremony.
The gold medal she won was also the opening gold of the Para Sukma 2022 athletics competition.
Meanwhile, her coach Mohd Fahmi Adnan said the youngest of six siblings was a very disciplined athlete and this was proven as she never skipped a training session during the five years under his guidance.
“In five years she has never missed a day (of training), she is an athlete who never says no, she is an obedient person. Even recently at the KOPK (Special Education Athletics Championships) at the national level, she was selected as the best athlete in the vision impaired category,” he said.
According to Mohd Fahmi, today’s target was to break the championship record of 4.38m, but the slippery track surface made it difficult for Nurul Farhah, whose personal best is 4.40m.
He hopes that Nurul Farhah’s achievement would attract the attention of MSN to absorb her to participate in the national camp to help further develop her talents ahead of the 2023 ASEAN Para Games in Cambodia and the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China, next year.
The silver medal of the event was won by Solehah Muzdaliefah Mustafa from Terengganu who did 3.63m, while Johor athlete Nur Arinah Nor Asibah took the bronze after recording 3.25m.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency