Hammer thrower Grace is not throwing in the towel

Grace Wong shows gold medal after winning at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Bukit Jalil.

PETALING JAYA: There is one thing that you can't take away from national hammer thrower Grace Wong – that's her confidence.

The Sarawakian is just waiting eagerly for her next competition to rewrite her national record.

The Covid-19 pandemic has interrupted the international calendar and limited the number of competitions but it has not broken the spirit of the Malaysian lass.

Just two months ago, the 21-year-old rewrote her national record by hurling the hammer to a distance of 62.48m en route to winning a gold in the Malaysian Grand Prix in Bukit Jalil.

Grace's old mark of 60.99m was set at the South Korean Open in 2019.

She hopes to get one or two more opportunities to strut her stuff before the Vietnam SEA Games in November.

"There are no updates on what competitions I will be taking part but when it is confirmed, I aim to break the record again," said Grace, who got her second dose of vaccination yesterday.

"I feel confident because of the training under coach Gu Yuan. I have improved a lot in terms of technique and strength.

"Everything feels right despite the pandemic."

The ultimate goal is to upstage her main rival Thailand's Mingkamon Koomphon in the Vietnam Games.

Grace had booked the Games ticket at the home GP when she bettered the silver-medal qualifying mark of 55.82m, which she had set at the last Games in the Philippines in 2019.

Mingkamon was the gold medal winner two years ago with a distance of 55.99m but she has a personal best of 62.49m, which was set at the Czech Republic Open in 2018. It is also the national record in Thailand.

"The main goal is to regain the SEA Games gold and upstage my rival Mingkamon," added the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games champion.