From a 16-year-old newbie to a doting wife, Dhabitah has same aim in third Olympics

Outside chance: Nur Dhabitah Sabri is ready to give her best at the Paris Olympics.

PETALING JAYA: It will be a different Olympic Games for national diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri but her mission in her third outing remains the same.

The 24-year-old, who got married last year, was the latest inclusion in the contingent heading to Paris from July 26-August 11, thanks to the unused quota by other countries.

She will be competing in the women’s 3m springboard individual event.

Dhabitah tied the knot with actor-comedian Mohd Aizat Ahmad Nasri in April last year, and will be battling hard with top divers from China and Canada to realise her dream of a podium finish for the first time.

“It can be anyone’s game in Paris. I know I’m not going on merit but maybe I can be an underdog. Just hoping for the best,” said Dhabitah, who is more mature now, since her debut eight years ago.

Flashing her infectious smile.

Dhabitah, known for her smiling face when she broke into the diving scene, plunged into her first Olympics stint in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and gained valuable experience. She did better in her second when she finished fourth in the 3m springboard individual event at the 2020 edition in Tokyo.

What are her chances this time?

“I just want to train well and not think too much about the performance just yet,” said Dhabitah.

“I want to be prepared for anything so I’m adding some challenges during training to make it competitive for myself.

“I had already been training regularly and intensely before the news came. But now that it’s confirmed, the intensity will be higher. So far it’s all been going well.

“I’m just hoping that there will not be any sudden injury or anything unwanted during this time so I have to be careful and really take care of myself,” added Dhabitah when met at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Dhabitah had picked up some injuries in recent seasons, including having to pull out of the 10m platform synchronised event at the World Championships in Fukuoka last year.

This year, her performance at the Doha edition wasn’t perfect as she was nursing a tricep injury.

To get herself back into the competition environment, Dhabitah had joined the Australian National Trials recently but withdrew due to a fever.

“I hadn’t been overseas in a while and the cold weather didn’t help. I just had a fever and wasn’t able to do my best there,” she said.

She will be joining the only other Malaysian diver Bertrand Rhodict in Paris, but will meet him in England next week to train and acclimatise themselves to the European weather.