KUALA LUMPUR: A great athlete knows when it's time to ride off into the sunset, avoiding the risk of tainting their name with repeated failures.
Many successful athletes have gracefully retired when they realised it was time to let go and walk away.
In the case of Malaysian diving, it's time to start from scratch and focus on rebuilding the national diving team with new talent from the junior squad.
Pandelela Rinong has rendered great service to the nation with numerous memorable achievements in the Asian Games, World Championships and Olympics.
The Sarawak-born athlete made history by winning Malaysia's first Olympic medal in diving at London 2012 — a moment cherished by all Malaysians.
However, her recent form has unfortunately shown signs of decline, likely due to age and injuries.
This was evident when she fell short in qualifying for the Paris Olympics during the recent World Championships in Doha.
This is something that has been happening for the last few seasons.
Pandelela is not the only one who should retire.
Divers like Wendy Ng and Ooi Tze Liang should also make way, contributing to Malaysian diving by guiding the new generation of athletes.
Malaysia, once ranked No. 2 behind China in Asia, have fallen down the pecking order, and are now even ranked below Japan, South Korea and North Korea.
With only one qualifier for the Paris Games in Bertrand Rhodict Lises and no Malaysian female diver at the Olympics for the first time in 24 years, signs of decline are evident.
This unexpected downfall is a stark contrast to the achievements of only seven years ago when the country produced its first world champion in Cheong Jun Hoong.
The decline in Malaysian diving between Jun Hoong's historic win and now is a concern, and the reasons behind it are known only to the relevant sports bodies.
However, former coach Yang Zhuliang's departure in 2017, which made international headlines, could be a significant factor contributing to the near-collapse of Malaysian diving.
There were many reasons why Zhuliang was not offered a new coaching contact.
One of them was because of his lack of sports science knowledge.
Malaysian Aquatics (MAS) should be partly blamed for not hiring a coach of Zhuliang's pedigree to guide the divers, or perhaps no top coaches want to come to Malaysia after the Zhuliang controversy.
Other relevant bodies such as the Youth and Sports Ministry and the National Sports Council (NSC), should have intervened when the decline began years ago.
There was no hoo-ha when Jun Hoong retired after the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Despite being Malaysia's greatest diver, Jun Hoong quietly left the scene.
In her parting message on social media, Jun Hoong expressed her desire to continue but accepted the fact that her contract as an athlete would not be renewed by the NSC, based on MAS' recommendation.
If MAS can just remove a former world champion from the national team, the association should be brave enough to do away with the current underperformers.
However, today the powers-that-be are playing chess with everyone, including the media, over the disappointing showing at the World Championships, even allowing Pandelela to criticise the Malaysian media on social media — an action deemed very unbecoming and unprofessional.
Are athletes under a government-backed programme, financed by taxpayers, allowed to do this?
The Pandelela-episode can set an unhealthy precedent for other athletes to follow.
Our current crop of divers should follow Jun Hoong's example and leave the diving scene as competitive athletes for good.
Some divers are not worthy of a place in the Road to Gold initiative and Podium Programme.
The bottom line is that they have failed, and it's time to replace them with those deserving of assistance.
It is time to get the right coaches and divers to rebuild Malaysian diving.
Once, we were made to believe that Malaysian diving would win the country's first Olympic title; today, the sport is on the brink of collapse.
Other national sports associations should learn from the rise and fall of Malaysian diving, and avoid making similar mistakes.
MAS must be brave and make the bold move of axing divers who have overstayed.
Please save Malaysian diving.
Ajitpal Singh is NST Sports editor
