Noraseela Khalid, a Malaysian Olympian, welcome’s the country’s move to renew ties with German athletics, recalling her own life-changing training in Germany that helped her set a lasting national record in the 400m hurdles. She hopes new partnerships will inspire future athletes to achieve similar successes, while reflecting on the long-standing records yet to be broken from past collaborations.
Noraseela Khalid, a distinguished Malaysian Olympian, has expressed her enthusiastic support for Malaysia’s recent initiative to re-establish ties with German athletics. This development comes as a breath of fresh air, especially for those who remember how her training in Germany catalyzed her own career. Back in 2003, Noraseela found herself contemplating retirement from athletics, but a pivotal decision to train in Germany transformed her trajectory.
At a training camp in Regensburg in 2006, she set the national record in the 400m hurdles with a remarkable time of 56.02 seconds—an achievement that still stands today. Now, learning about the National Sports Council’s director-general Jefri Ngadirin’s discussions regarding sending Malaysian athletes to Germany has rekindled her excitement.
“My time training in Germany made me a better athlete and a better person,” Noraseela reflected, emphasizing her deep connection to the country. She is fluent in German and has completed a sports psychology program there. However, she lamented the lost opportunities from the previous partnership, wishing it could be revitalized.
Several athletes, including Moh Siew Wei, Malik Tobias, and Zaiful Zainal Abidin, also benefited from training in Germany. Nauraj Singh, a high jumper, previously trained in Germany before retiring in 2023. Noraseela noted that her own experience under coach Idriss Gonschinska was vital to her success.
“I had first broken the national record in 1999, but later I felt stagnant in my performance, facing a lack of support,” she admitted. “The chance to train in Germany under Idriss was transformative.” In just three months, her record improved dramatically from 58.77 seconds to 56.90 seconds.
Despite holding the national record, she shared an empty feeling, noting, “It is a shame that no one has come close to breaking my record.” She remains the only Malaysian woman to have completed the 400m hurdles in under a minute. Recently, she reunited with Gonschinska, who now leads the German Athletics Association.
Gonschinska was recently in Malaysia along with a sizable German delegation for a training period in Kuala Lumpur, preparing for the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China. Supported by Malaysian Athletics vice-president and coaching chairman Datuk Mark Ling, this collaboration has reunited athletes from both nations.
Noraseela expressed her joy at reconnecting with her former coach and renewing her relationships from her time in Germany. “I hope to see more Malaysians training there in the future and breaking the long-standing records we set during that time,” she stated. Beyond her own record, two other records from Malaysian athletes during that training period remain untouched: Moh Siew Wei’s 100m hurdles time and Malik Tobias’ decathlon score.
“This makes me question how much more successful Malaysian athletics could have been with continuous collaboration with the German athletics community,” Noraseela remarked. She expresses hope that current leaders in Malaysian Athletics work with authorities to elevate the country’s competitive standards once again.
In conclusion, Noraseela Khalid’s reflections on her training in Germany underscore the potential benefits of international partnerships in athletics. Her experience serves as a reminder of the significant achievements possible through collaboration, and her desire to revive ties suggests a pathway for future athletic growth in Malaysia. As she hopes for more Malaysian athletes to train abroad, the reinstatement of these connections could open opportunities for breaking records and achieving excellence. The outlook for Malaysia’s athletics could be promising, contingent on such thoughtful initiatives coming to fruition.
Original Source: malaysia.news.yahoo.com
