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Pandelela Rinong anak Pamg (born 2 March 1993), a Malaysian diver became the first female Malaysian athlete to win a medal at the Olympics, as well as the first to win an Olympic medal in any sport other than badminton, when she took the bronze in the 10m diving event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.


Before the Olympics began, I had a hunch that this young lady would win. Why? In all her photos, her expressions spell true grit and determination!

The nineteen year old Bidayuh young lady is 5'3" tall and weighs 109 lbs. Pandalela sure has an impressive track record of achievements.

Pandelela Rinong,the top Malaysian female diver at the moment, won the 2011 Sportswoman of The Year award for her strong performance in the diving world series event. Actually her high potential in the diving event started to gain recognition when she won Malaysia's first Commonwealth Games gold medal in an aquatic sport by winning the women's 10m platform.

At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, she won a bronze medal in the Women's 10 m Synchronized Platform with Mun Yee Leong and placed 5th in the Women's 10 m platform. She also competed in the Women's 10 m platform at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

She was the flag bearer for the Malaysian contingent at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore where she won the silver medals in the girls' 10m platform event and 3m springboard event.

She became Malaysia's first female flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics where she competed in the individual 10 m platform and the 10 m platform synchronized event with her partner Leong Mun Yee.

She became the first Malaysian female athlete to win an Olympics medal, and the first Malaysian athlete to win an Olympics medal in a sport besides badminton by winning a bronze medal in the Women's 10 m platform at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

WELL DONE, PANDALELA RINONG!! Malaysians are very proud of you!!! May you attain more achievements in the future. The world is before you so march forth and pave your way to victory with your brand of discipline, determination, diligence and a motivated purpose. Watch her go go go in the following video clip.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH.

According to a Bernama news report:

Pandelela collected 359.20 points to settle at third place behind defending champion Chen Ruolin from China (422.30 points) and silver medallist Brittany Broben from Australia (366.50 points).

This is the second medal for Malaysia from the London edition of the Olympics after the national badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei won the silver medal in the men singles’ final last Sunday.

With Pandelela’s success, Malaysia had also repeated its performance at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games in the United States, by bagging one silver and one bronze medal.

Pandelela’s excellent performance also broke badminton’s domination in medal contributions — two silver and two bronze medals so far — since Malaysia’s first participation in the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956.

The Prime Minister also congratulated her via his FB and Twitter updates.

According to another report by Hamdan Ismail of Bernama:

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said he would announce the special reward when the diving athlete returned from the Olympics.

He said the reward would befit the achievement of the 19-year-old who became the first Malaysian woman to earn a medal in the 10m platform event.

He said the people of Sarawak were proud to have an athlete from the state, in having bagged the bronze medal in the event.

"She will be an inspiration to others," added Abdul Taib when asked to comment on Pandelela's feat.

In the final at the London Aquatic Centre earlier today, Pandelela shook off a poor start to claw back and accumulate 359.20 points to finish behind gold medalist Chen Ruolin of China and Australia's Brittany Broben who took the silver.

With the achievement, she will receive RM150,000 under the youth and sports ministry's incentive scheme and a monthly pension of RM2,000.

HIP HIP HURRAY and CONGRATULATIONS to Pandalela Rinong. You have created history and set the benchmark for Malaysian sportsmen and sportswomen. Your humility, style, single-mindedness to win despite a poor start shows your indomitable spirit. What an inspiration! You have truly done us proud, Pandelela!!! God bless you!!