Strength in Grace
From national gymnast hero to having a Barbie doll moulded after her, Farah Ann Abdul Hadi spills the beans on what it takes to be a champion
National gymnast and first-time Olympian Farah Ann Abdul Hadi spills the beans on what it takes to be a champion
The clock is ticking. Displaying a mesmerising combination of a physical agility, strength, and stamina, she executes her jumps, her body a vision of athletic grace on the 10cm-wide, 5m-long balance beam, a look of concentration on her face. Finally, she lands on the floor with a perfectly executed twist and jump, a wide smile on her face.
One can only imagine the breadth of exertions and emotions that an artistic gymnast like Farah Ann Abdul Hadi goes through during a competition— all that training culminating in executing that one flawless performance, which lasts only one and a half minutes. They live and breathe for this, with the goal of being the best they can be.
It’s every athlete’s dream to compete at the Olympics, and for 26-year-old Farah Ann, it’s a dream come true when she finally earned her spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after the big disappointment of missing out on the 2016 Rio Games by a mere 0.1 margin.
Recalling the time she learnt that she qualified, Farah was a bundle of nerves as she waited to hear the official results together with her teammates Tracie Ang and Tan Ing Yueh, who were with her at the 2019 Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. When the results finally came out late that night, Farah was so relieved she cried happy tears and immediately sent her family a text to share the good news: “Tokyo, here we come!”
When she called her parents the next morning, “My dad was like, [over Zoom, Farah mimicked her dad, sniffing to hold back his emotions] and he was saying we’re all very proud of you.”
She beams, “I couldn’t believe that the dream that I’ve had for so long, finally came true. I’m very happy and very grateful to be given the opportunity to represent Malaysia at the Olympics.”
But then Covid happened and the Tokyo Games had to be postponed to 2021. Despite feeling disappointed, Farah took it as a blessing in disguise. She’s been in an endless series of competitions including the Olympic qualifiers in Germany and the SEA Games in the Philippines that she simply had no time to let her body have a rest. “I was having shoulder injuries that I’ve been putting off getting treatment for but with the postponement, I had the chance to heal my shoulder and now I’m feeling a whole lot better as I don’t have pain when I train.”
Throughout the forced lockdown, Farah and her fellow athletes kept on with their training and workouts at the national training centre in Bukit Jalil to keep them motivated, healthy and fit to perform at a high level at the Olympics.
For Farah, this hard-won accomplishment is the highlight of her 23-year-long career and is also her family’s triumph. “This meant that all the time, sacrifice and pain that I went through means something. And being able to repay my parents for all the sacrifices they’ve made and to make them proud is what I cherish the most out of this experience. Hopefully, they are able to be there and watch me perform because I am doing this for them. To have them there and experience the Olympic dream with me is the best thing that I can do to show them how much I appreciate them.”
FOR THE LOVE OF IT
Ever since the precocious age of three, Farah’s whole world has revolved around gymnastics. She joined the national team at age eight and made her debut at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, where Farah and her team won fourth place. Driven and competitive, the artistic gymnast went on to win medal after medal at international competitions.
Now that she’s older, more experienced and considered a senior, Farah is able to give some input as she works with her coach, Nataliya Sinkova, on the floor routine choreography. “I’m very lucky to have someone that is both a coach and choreographer. Sometimes other countries get an outside choreographer to come in, teach the routine and then they’re gone in a week. Coach Nataliya would select the music that will fit our personalities and our movements and then she’d play it in the gym, she choreographs it, and we’d learn the choreography. Sometimes
I would go to her and suggest different moves or maybe we can merge two songs together. She’d consider it, look at my movements then refine it, because I can’t see myself but she does. So basically it’s a process of me communicating with my coach.
“People always comment that we have very nice choreography and fluidity in movement so it’s amazing to have both coach and choreographer together.”
Athletes rely on good coaches to push and motivate them, and give them a pep talk when needed, as training and competing is not just physical but mental as well. The most important thing is to make them believe in themselves, and inspire their charges to do more than they think they can. Farah’s thankful to have both Nataliya Sinkova and former Olympian gymnast Ng Shu Wai as her coaches as they’re good to her and have taught her so much.
“Coach Nataliya has known me since I was eight years old so she saw me growing. She knows my abilities and my character, and during competitions she knows just what to say. In a way, she really did nurture me, and I could never repay her for all that she’s given me and all that I’ve learnt from her.
“On the other hand, with Coach Shu Wai, while he also pushes me to do better in my sport, he also understands where I’m coming from as he was an athlete and Olympian. I remember talking to him when I didn’t qualify for Rio and he understood how upset and disappointed I was. He patted me on the shoulder and told me, ‘When you’re ready, you can come back whenever it is.’
“Both of them provide such a great balance, and it’s amazing to have coaches that I’m able to communicate with. There was talk of me going overseas for training with a different coach but I just told them that I have two great coaches who get me and know when to push me, so thanks, I’m good where I am. I am where I am now because of them.”
As an artistic gymnast—not to be confused with rhythmic!—farah must master her skills and form in order to make sure it looks fluid, light, and effortless.
“I think striving to be the best version of yourself is better than trying to be a perfect version of yourself ” —FARAH ANN
“Some people think that it’s a very easy sport because when they watch us perform, we make it look easy. But we have to make it look like it’s not hard at all because you get deductions in your points,” Farah says wryly, adding that her journey hasn’t been an easy one, having to deal with mental blocks which bring frustrations and challenges to her training, which also involves cardio, weight work, and ballet. “It takes a lot of work, and a lot of give and take. Sometimes there are days where I really am unable and I used to be frustrated with myself as I don’t understand why is this happening. It took me a while to say, ‘No, it’s okay. Today is just a day. It doesn’t mean that if I don’t perform today, I’m unable to perform when it matters.’ Perseverance is key to being able to overcome these challenges, and I think that’s one of my best qualities.”
Perfection is because the sport demands it, but in truth, and in real life, perfection is sometimes unattainable, and beauty is found in the flaws. Farah says sagely, “We’re all imperfect in a certain way, and those quirks and those imperfections are the things that actually make us who we are.
“Striving to be perfect, is something that you have to determine for yourself what it is. For me, I think striving to be the best version of yourself is better than trying to be a perfect version of yourself.”
Recently Farah had a Barbie modelled after her likeness, as part of Barbie’s Dream Gap project, which aims to empower girls with inspiring role models. She was of course thrilled with the news. “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would have a Barbie doll that looks like me! If you look at their roster, they have all these amazing athletes from all over the world. One of them is Dipa Karmakar; she’s a fellow gymnast and a good friend of mine, so this is such an amazing experience!” she gushed.
For the attire, Farah decided on the pink leotard that Barbie’s wearing now. “I also wanted the tiger jacket because I feel this animal represents Malaysia. But due to copyright issues, they had a different jacket made instead.”
Looking back on her younger days, she fondly remembers her Little Mermaid Barbie, which her grandmother gave her when she came to visit from
Canada. There was also another doll—“i think it was a princess Barbie, and I remember thinking how do I get the money to buy it because I really liked it.” Little did she know, her parents had actually gotten it as a gift for her. “And I remember my coach asking us to bring the Barbie doll to training because she wanted us to use them to mimic the movements we wanted to do. I also remember playing together with my sisters as we all shared the Barbies.”
Barbie has been around for over 60 years now and has evolved to represent all women. “One thing with Barbie is that she could be anything you wanted her to be; she could be a doctor, athlete, astronaut—she could be anyone. Representation matters and now with all the dolls and different types, everyone can see themselves in them all,” says Farah.
To be involved in the campaign, called ‘You Can Be Anything’, is meaningful to her. She had gotten messages from people who have daughters, telling her “she wants to be like you”. “I actually have a comment on my Instagram where this mom wrote, “My daughter saw you compete in SEA Games and decided to name her Barbie doll ‘Farah’.
“In Malaysia gymnastics is not as popular as a sport, so for me, if kids dream of becoming a gymnast, go for it! I love this sport and I love what it’s given me and all the experiences I’ve had, and I want other kids to experience that.”
Farah understands the common misconceptions about women in sport and she works hard to be a real example to young girls out there that it is possible to do sports and have an education. “I took my SPM and PMR, and I have a degree. I learned how to manage my studies while being a professional athlete.”
With such a hectic schedule, she slots in time for work, fun and things that matter to her, such as having dinner with family, movie nights with her sister, or game nights with friends.
When asked what’s on her bucket list, Farah had to pause for a while to think. “My main focus is always anything to do with gymnastics; other than that, I haven’t actually thought about other things. But coming to mind right now, I do want to do an Asia trip, or go backpacking through Europe. It’s something I plan to do after I retire; take time off and travel and not train,” she laughs.