Gymnast Jeremiah out to end 12-year medal drought

PETALING JAYA: Can Jeremiah Loo be the third Malaysian men’s artistic gymnast to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast?

It will be super hard but the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games gold medallist is eager to defy the odds in his debut.

The artistic competition will be held at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre from April 5-9 and Jeremiah is hoping to end a 12-year medal drought.

Ng Shu Wai bagged a silver medal in floor exercise at the 2006 Melbourne Games and Loke Yik Siang won bronze in pommel horse at the 2002 Manchester Games.

The 21-year-old Jeremiah is upbeat about his chances after going through a painful lesson at the World Cup in Melbourne two weeks ago.

He took part in three apparatus events but finished 38th in vault, 27th in floor exercise and 36th in high bar out of 42 competitors.

“I did not achieve my goals in the World Cup but I’ve learnt that I must be calm and composed all the time during a tournament,” said Jeremiah.

“Being too nervous does not help.” Jeremiah said he had drawn inspiration from former winner Shu Wai, his coaches and family members.

“Everyone basically said the same – to have self confidence.”

“England will be the main challengers at this Games. They have quality and depth in their team ... but I’ve improved too.

“I picked up gymnastics when I was seven and since then, I’ve been dreaming about competing at the Commonwealth Games.

“Now, I’m here and I plan to seize the moment,” added Jeremiah, who gave the thumbs-up to the venue after having a practice session there yesterday.

Besides Jeremiah, the only other Malaysian representative in the men’s artistic is Tan Fu Jie, who was a joint pommel horse gold-medal winner at the KL SEA Games last year.