Not the ‘spur’ that Hakimi needs to reach Olympics

Muhammad Hakimi Ismail competes in the men's triple jump final of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Carrara Sports Arena in Gold Coast, Australia,- GLENN GUAN/The Star

PETALING JAYA: Competing in the Olympic Games seems like a distant dream for national long jumper Mohd Hakimi Ismail.

A bone spur could scupper his plans to compete in the Qosanov Memorial in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on June 19 which is one of the last Olympics qualifying tournaments for athletics.

The 30-year-old has to wait for the doctor to give an approval whether he is fully fit for the task ahead.

Hakimi is keeping his fingers crossed that he is able to compete in his first international competition in 15 months.

At the Malaysian Athletics Grand Prix in April, he won the triple jump gold after clearing a distance of 14.52m but had to pull out of the long jump event due to a hamstring strain.

Hakimi said he is able to train but there is a niggling pain on his right foot.

“The doctor has been assessing the situation, and in a week, I will know what has caused this bone spur. If the condition is serious, I may have to forget about qualifying for the Olympics, ” said Hakimi.

“It is kind of chronic, actually. The pain comes and goes. So you do not know when the pain would come. We will be doing treatment for a week and we’ll see how it goes. If it gets better, then there is a chance for me to fly to Almaty.

“But if it does not get better, then I will concentrate on rehabilitation and recovery. That means my sole focus will be on the SEA Games end of this year.

“In the Grand Prix, I wasn’t at my best because of the hamstring and bone spur. I am nowhere near my personal best of 16.77m, and to qualify for the Olympics, you have to post 17.14m. It does look impossible.”

At the Philippines SEA Games two years ago, Hakimi leapt to 16.68m to take his third consecutive gold medal in the triple jump.