Slow and steady wins it for Nurul Alyahaziqah

ONCE beaten, twice shy.

Kelantan’s Nurul Alyahaziqah Kamarzaman got it right yesterday when she listened to the advice of her coach to slow down and went on to win the gold medal in the girls’ 10,000m walk at the Perak Stadium.

Nurul was in danger of being disqualified again when she received two warnings for floating. She would have been out if she received a third one.

And fearing the worst, her coach Mohd Ghani Seman yelled at the top of his voice, asking her to take it easy during the final stages of the 25-lap race as he did not want Nurul to suffer another disappointment.

On Monday, the 18-year-old had hit the tape first in the 5,000m walk but she was disqualified for floating three times during the race.

Nurul followed Ghani’s instruction and took her feet of the pedal in the last five laps and despite that, she still clocked a personal best time of 54:42.45 and finally raised her hands in celebration this time.

Nurul, who improved her personal best by 20 seconds, said she needed to improve her technique.

“It was a big relief for me as I was under pressure to win the event after getting two warning for floating,” said Nurul.

“I can hear my coach yelling at me to slow down with five laps to go. And I adhered to his advice, slowed down and maintained my lead all the way to the finishing line,” said Nurul, who was also disqualified in the 5,000m walk in National Schools Sports Council (MSSM) Championships in Shah Alam in April.

“I’ve a history of being disqualified and I need to overcome this if I hope to represent Malaysia next year,” admitted Nurul, who bagged two bronzes in the 5,000m and 10,000m at Sarawak Sukma in 2016.

Nurul Ashikin Hussin of Federal Territories finished second with 55:02.92 and Koong Jia Lin of Pahang took bronze with a time of 55:23.36.

Meanwhile, Sarawak’s Wong Nie Nie won the girls’ javelin with a throw of 41.22m but her effort was way off the Games record of 44.98m set by Ho Sin Hui of Sarawak in Kuala Terengganu in 2008.