Heavy-duty Elly
Sabahan overcomes shoulder injury to smash 10-year record
IT’S no pain no gain for Sabah weightlifter Elly Cascandra Engelbert as she smashed the Malaysia Games (Sukma)’s 10 year-old record in the girl’s below 53kg clean and jerk at the Merdeka Hall in Tapah yesterday.
The 18- year- old is making her comeback from a back injury and competed with a shoulder injury but lifted 92kg for the gold medal and broke the old record of 90kg set by Raihan Yusof of Kelantan at the 2008 Terengganu Sukma.
The Papar lass, who had earlier clinched the snatch event gold after lifting 72kg, was happy with her exploits in Perak as she had thought of retiring.
“I was thinking of retiring after getting injured in 2017 but my coaches and family advised me not to give up.
“So, I dedicate these medals and record to them,” said the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) student.
“Even today, I had shoulder pain from an injury but I kept my mind focused during the competition. I didn’t expect to break the record here but the coaches believed in me and set the weight for me ... I’m just glad that I managed to do it.
“It took me months to recover from the back injury so I’m very pleased to get back to competing and winning.”
Elly, who previously won two silver medals at the 2014 Perlis Sukma and two bronze medals at the 2016 Sarawak Sukma, said she was now fired up to win medals at the Commonwealth Games and SEA Games.
“My target is to compete at the next SEA Games in the Philippines next year and go for other major tournaments,” said the youngest of four siblings.
“These gold medals are a massive morale booster for me to keep going and improving as an athlete. I’ll continue my hard work in training.”