(From left) Melissa Choong (centre) poses with her parents Roland Choong and Jasmine Tan.
AFTER not being able to complete her heptathlon due to a hamstring injury in the 2022 Malaysia Games (Sukma), many thought Penang’s Melissa Choong would only compete in the high jump this time.
But the 20-year-old is made of hardier stuff. Not only did she complete all seven events, she went on to bag the Sarawak Sukma gold medal with 4,665 points.
“Two years ago, I pulled my hamstring and wasn’t able to continue the competition. Now, I am holding the gold,” said a happy Melissa, who rushed to meet her parents Roland Choong and Jasmine Tan after the 800m, her last event.
The gold was especially meaningful as she could only get a silver in her favourite high jump event, with a height of 1.64m. Sarawak took both the heptathlon silver and bronze through Darellyn Denisa Deng Dannis (4,539) and Elaine Koh (4,435).
“It feels absolutely amazing. I competed in a high jump event four days ago,” said Melissa.
“On the first day of the event, I jumped 1.64m, which got me a silver medal on countback. I wished I could have done better,” said the second-year Biochemistry student at the University of Bristol in England.
“For the heptathlon, in the high jump, I did 1.68m, which was better than the gold-winning jump of 1.64m.”
Melissa said the journey has been tough as she had to balance studies and sports while abroad.
“Training at the university has been tough because I was there alone but always in contact with my local coaches.
“A lot of discipline and time management was needed. I also needed a lot of encouragement.
“I only had about two months of technical training during the summer break.”
Melissa said her interest in athletics started when she was 10 and never looked back since.
“Hepta felt natural to me because I started sports when I was 10 years old. I did the long jump, triple jump, and a bit of sprinting, so I guess it was easy for me to do the heptathlon. It is challenging but fun.”
Melissa said her family members were an important part of her career.
“They have always been by my side since I was 10. I do not think they have missed any of my competitions. Even in events that mean nothing to some people, they would still be there.”
Melissa will head back to England next month but she expects to be back for the Thailand SEA Games next year.
“I didn’t manage to meet the qualification mark for the high jump, which is 1.70m.
“When I return to the United Kingdom, I hope to get results there and make the cut,” she added.
