Tribute to coaches
Andre rewrites coach’s 10-year triple jump record
What would an athlete be without a coach. Sabah’s Andre Anura Anuar was on the verge of disqualification in the triple jump, but his coach Ahmad Firdaus Salim rallied him on, prompting the 19-year-old to break his 10-year Games record en route to the gold. Kelantan walker Nurul Alyahaziqah Kamarzaman, also staring at disqualification, received timely advice from her coach Mohd Ghani Seman before winning the 10,000m walk. Federal Territories weightlifter Jabriella Teo Samuel has coach Matin Guntali to thank for after smashing the national record in the girls’ 75kg category.
THE joy of a coach is to see his athlete do better than him.
And yesterday, Sabah’s Andre Anura Anuar (pic) did just that when he made a glorious leap to break the boys’ triple jump Malaysia Games (Sukma) record not once – but twice en route to winning the gold medal at the Perak Stadium.
The 19-year-old rewrote his coach Ahmad Firdaus Salim’s mark of 15.75m that stood for 10 years with his 15.89m effort in the fifth jump before improving it by two centimetres (15.91m) in the final jump.
But the victory did not come easy as Andre had to endure anxious moments after the first two jumps resulted in faults.
Another fault jump would have led to his disqualification but he showed true grit and determination to make an effort of 14.95 to qualify for the final three jumps.
He missed the mark again on the fourth but then, he gained a second wind after a pep talk with his coach to break the Games record in the fifth and sixth jumps to the delight of the spectators at the stadium.
Andre, who took a silver in the boys’ long jump on Tuesday, said it was challenging to compete in two events in two days.
“I was tired and did not get off to a good start. I was under tremendous pressure after the first two fault jumps,” said Andre.
“I was relieved when I kept my challenge alive after clearing my third attempt but lost my composure again in the fourth. Fortunately, my coach kept encouraging me and told me not to give up.
“I stayed focused and what a joy it was to make a good jump and break the record held by my coach.
“It’s great to make my coach happy,” said Andre, whose previous personal best was 15.69m en route to winning a gold at the Malaysian Open in May in Bukit Jalil.
It was certainly a big improvement for Andre, who only managed a sixth placing in the long jump event at the Sarawak Sukma in 2016.
He hoped that his showing in Sukma would give him more opportunities to compete.
“I qualified for World Junior Championships in Finland in July but I could not go because of financial constraint.
“Now that I’ve proven myself in the junior ranks, I hope to get more chances to further improve my standard in international competitions.”