Olympic Diver Nur Dhabitah Won Malaysians’ Hearts Though She Just Barely Missed The Medal

Nur Dhabitah performed incredibly at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

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Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Malaysia’s Olympic representative for Diving 3m Springboard, came in 4th place, just short of a medal.

However, her performance won something else– the hearts of Malaysians all over, who fell in love with her confident smile before her dive and her touching comments after, as she shed tears on international TV speaking about how proud she is of herself and the hardships she had to endure to get here.

I’m here to enjoy my dive and enjoy my game. I cry not because I’m sad. I’m very proud of myself.
Dhabita at the Tokyo Olympics 2021

Dhabitah’s tearful comments have moved Malaysians.

Her score of 326.15 is also the best score ever acheived by a Malaysian athlete in this category!

Young and experienced

Dhabitah, though only 22 years old this year, is now currently ranked #4 best diver in the world and #1 in Southeast Asia.

Her achievements started rolling in when she was just 13 years old. In 2012, Dhabitah became the youngest Malaysian diver to win at an international competition in the senior level by cinching two golds that year at the Macau International Diving Invitational and the Southeast Asia Swimming Championship.

Since then, she has consistnently brought home gold medals in various international competitions from 2013 to 2019, save for when she made her big debut at the 2016 Olympics, and in 2018.

She has taken home medals from the Commonwealth Games, Southeast Asia Games, FINA Diving World Series, FINA Diving Grand Prix, FINA World Cup, FINA World Cup Championship, Asian Diving Cup, and the Asian Games.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Diving – Women’s 3m Springboard – Final – Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Tokyo, Japan – August 1, 2021. Nur Dhabitah Sabri of Malaysia in action REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

In fact, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is her second spin at the games, though she is competiting in a new category. In the Olympic Games Rio 2016, she placed fifth in the women’s 3m Synchronised Springboard with Cheong Jun Hoong and ninth in her individual 10m platform event.

The journey was tough

Of course, while her diving performances at competitions take only mere minutes, the journey to get there is a tough and demanding one.

After her tears moved a nation, an old image of her gruelling training routine was shared online again. In it, she is undergoing an intense stretching excercise with the additional weight of a whole human man on her back.

In the post from 2016, she writes that she is “doing her best to be great”.

That’s me… being crushed… but I did not die.
Dhabita on Facebook

Now, she’s got the whole country behind her back supporting her diving career! TRP wishes her all the best in her future endeavours!

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Anne Dorall

Anne is an advocate of sustainable living and the circular economy, and has managed to mum-nag the team into using reusable containers to tapau food. She is also a proud parent of 4 cats and 1 rabbit.