Pandelela makes Malaysian history with her Olympics bronze

LONDON, Aug 10 — Diver Pandelela Rinong Pamg made national history today by winning an Olympic bronze medal in the women’s diving 10m event, the country’s first non-badminton medal, and becoming the first Malaysian woman to win an Olympic medal. Sarawak-born Pandelela took the bronze with a score of 359.2 points, only 7.3 points behind silver medallist Brittany Broben from Australia. China’s Chen Roulin won the event with a stunning 422.3 points. Chen was in a league of her own from the beginning, leaving her nearest competitor by over 40 points midway through. While never threatening Chen’s lead, the other divers were neck-and-neck with a nail-biting final round tally determining the silver-and-bronze. Pandela’s medal chances seemed dim after mistakes in her first and third dives, but she made up for them with consistent scores in her other attempts. Nineteen-year-old Pandelela joined the national diving team at 14, going on to rack up impressive achievements including becoming the first Malaysian to win a gold in diving at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi (10m platform). Read more... Jarumemas: Congratulations, you are making the Malaysians proud of you.