S'wakian hammer thrower Grace Wong eyes breaking 60m mark in quest for Asian medal (Video)
KUCHING (May 16): National hammer thrower Grace Wong Xiu Mei has set her sights on breaking the 60-metre mark and achieve a podium finish at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea on May 27-31.
The 25-year-old athlete from Sarikei threw 57.99m at the Hong Kong Athletics Championships last weekend for the silver medal.
However, this was poorer than her personal national record of 62.48m and best score of 58.91m this season at the Philippines Athletics Championships early this month.
'Although I won the silver medal, I know I can do better. Currently, I am just maintaining my basic form and am not at my peak yet.
'I have the next two weeks to adjust and improve. I will focus on strengthening my strength and technique. I hope to make a breakthrough in the Asian Championships and even compete for a medal,' said Grace, who is ranked 219 globally for women's hammer throw, in an interview.
In 2015, at the young age of 15, Grace represented Malaysia at the Wuhan Asian Athletics Championships and ranked fifth with a distance of 53.10m, becoming the youngest participant in the Malaysian delegation.
Since then, she has continued to improve, throwing 57.18m in Bhubaneswar, India in 2017 and finishing in eighth position, while at the 2023 Asian Championships in Pattaya, Thailand she finished in seventh place with 57.99m.
Her Southeast Asian Games record has been stellar with gold medals at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, 2022 Hanoi SEA Games, and 2023 Cambodia SEA Games, where she set a throw of 61.87m.
Her national record of 62.48m was set at the 2023 Malaysian Athletics Grand Prix.
Currently returning to the National Sports Council for training, Grace will take the Asian Athletics Championships as her new goal and also looks forward to the SEA Games, which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand at the end of the year. Asian Athletics Championships Grace Wong Xiu Mei Gumi lead
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