Nadi Arena (19/6/24)
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00:00The programme that you are about to watch is purely fictitious.
00:02Any resemblance to anyone, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional.
00:04Any resemblance to anyone, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional.
00:06Any resemblance to anyone, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional.
00:08Hustle Demi Hustle.
00:10That's the story of the country's best swimmer,
00:12Khairul Nizam Afandi,
00:14who was rejected by the Olympic Games
00:16for the fourth time in his career.
00:18After his failure at the 2023 Asian Games,
00:21who would have thought that his determination would not be easily defeated,
00:24he brought Khairul Nizam to the Paris Olympics at the last minute.
00:28Let's follow the capsule of the Paris Olympics,
00:30which was prepared by journalist Zuhalmi Zanal Azam.
00:34I was disappointed.
00:36But if I look back,
00:39for the past 16 years,
00:44I have to be proud of myself
00:46because in the 2014 and 2018 Olympics,
00:49I gave the gold medal.
00:51So there's nothing to be disappointed about.
00:54I'm still proud.
00:56Thank you for giving me a chance.
01:02I think I underperformed at the Sukan Asia Hanzhou.
01:06I think I could have done better.
01:09I don't know.
01:12I was a bit lost at that time.
01:15But when we lost,
01:22I didn't give up easily.
01:24My family gave me support to carry on.
01:29After the Sukan Asia,
01:31I had three more races.
01:34The Asian Games in Thailand,
01:37the 2023 December Games,
01:39the 2024 World Championships,
01:42and the last one in France.
01:43They won at the Semaine Olympique Francaise.
01:46This is the 55th edition of this iconic regatta.
01:49But this week, we have something very special going on.
01:52We have two events going on at the same time.
01:54On one hand, we have the Qualified Nations Regatta,
01:57where the athletes who are already qualified for the Olympics
02:00are having their last regatta before Paris 2024.
02:03The opportunity was still wide open.
02:06So I got back on my feet
02:09and prepared well.
02:11I was also helped by my new coach,
02:14Asli Ben Azman.
02:15So we were able to meet,
02:18I was a little short on points in the World Championships.
02:22In the Asian Games,
02:24I was 4 points short to qualify.
02:26And in the World Championships,
02:29I was also 4 points short to qualify.
02:31So we knew and we were confident
02:33that we were at a level where we could qualify.
02:35But we just needed a little more push
02:38and a little more spark.
02:40And then, alhamdulillah, in France, we did it
02:42and qualified for the Olympics.
02:45The Olympic Gate of Paris,
02:46which was built by the National Bicycle Track Squad
02:48through the efforts of Azizul,
02:50Shafir Daus and Nurul Izzah Izzati,
02:53was apparently built
02:54by Cairol Nizam Mohamad Effendi,
02:56the champion of the Paralympic Games.
02:58Cairol Nizam was the 10th athlete
03:00who qualified for the Olympics
03:02by merit.
03:04For me, personally,
03:06qualifying for the fourth Olympics
03:09is not easy.
03:11There were many obstacles and challenges
03:13that I had to face.
03:15And I qualified for the last time,
03:18in France, in April 2024.
03:23But the sweet thing is,
03:25when we qualified for the last minute,
03:28because we were at the best level.
03:30We always want to be at the best level
03:32to qualify,
03:33and then,
03:34the Olympics is only a few months away,
03:36so we just keep going.
03:37So that's the sweet thing and the advantage
03:39when we qualify for the last minute.
03:41And I think,
03:42even now, I'm at the best level,
03:44so I just need to keep going,
03:46the momentum,
03:47and just perform at the Olympics.