Camp’s a breeze for gymnast Ing Yueh

PETALING JAYA: A month at the National Sports Council (NSC) is no problem for national artistic gymnast Tan Ing Yueh.

Even though she has not qualified for the Olympics, she will be one of five gymnasts to undergo centralised training in Bukit Jalil Sports Complex.

“For me, it (the quarantine-like training camp) is not an issue because I am happy to just return to the training arena. I have online classes to fill my time in the camp,” said Ing Yueh, a communications student at Sunway University.

“Since we have no further information about the Olympics qualification and specific training was stopped for two months, our plans for the year have been messed up.

“Now, I am looking forward to seeing my coach in training and I believe my coach will have a better plan or arrangement for me and my teammates to prepare for competitions or the Olympic qualification.”

On Tuesday, the government gave the green light for 57 elite athletes and 208 supporting staff to attend centralised training in three centres – National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil, Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara and National Sailing Centre in Langkawi.

All of them will have to forgo any physical contact with family or friends until June 30.

Besides Ing Yueh, the other girls in the training camp are Tracie Ang, Nur Azira Aziri, Rachel Yeoh Li Wen and the only Olympics qualifier Farah Ann Abdul Hadi. Ing Yueh believes NSC and the National Sports Institute (NSI) would ensure a safe and healthy environment for the athletes, and now it is up to the trainees to follow the guidelines stringently.

“This year, there is no confirmed information on upcoming competitions but if there are any competitions for Olympics qualification, that would be my target because the Olympics have always been my biggest dream.”

If she qualifies and the Olympics are held in 2021, Ing Yueh will turn 25, an age where most gymnasts would be slowing down, but that is not the case for the pint-sized Melaka girl.“Age doesn’t matter in sport. We had the world’s oldest gymnast (Oksana Chusovitina) at the age of 45, and she is still capable of performing in the world stage. I think people can do everything if they want it.

“As for me, I will keep my training routines as usual but will stop if I faced any difficulty, such as significant injuries. As I grew older, I gained a lot of knowledge and experiences about how injuries will affect my performance.

“So, the best things are to take care of myself so that I am injury-free and can perform well in a competition.”