Give our women sprinters more training, exposure abroad, says ex-sprint queen

KUALA LUMPUR - The country’s female sprinters need to be given more training and international exposure abroad to ensure Malaysia is never short of acclaimed female athletes in the sprint events.

Former national sprint queen Datuk Mumtaz Jaafar said this is based on some good performances by national sprinters of late and the need to ride on this momentum.

"We need to send our women sprinters abroad to gain more exposure. Moreover, there has been some good development where our women sprinters are concerned as all the states are now paying more attention to developing their athletes.

"To ensure there is no shortage of good athletes, measures to be taken to keep producing more of them,” she told reporters after the launch of the ‘Let’s Move’ event in Bukit Kiara Park here today.

The event is a collaboration between the Malaysian Olympic Council (MOM) and Taman Tun Dr Ismail residents to hold events for those aged between five and 15.

On the same note, Mumtaz also heaped praise on Sea Games athlete senior Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli who has been consistently producing admirable performances for the country.

She said Zaidatul, 29, was still pushing younger athletes in meets despite now being married.

"Zaidatul, for me, is special as even after getting married she continues to compete and perform very well. To me, all women athletes have their own strengths respectively,” she said.

On Thursday, Zaidatul set a personal record of 11.56 seconds (s) in the 100 metres (m) sprint at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships (AAC) women’s 100m heats.

However, she could only finish fifth in the semifinals after finishing fifth in 11.67s. - BERNAMA