Nur Dhabitah Aims for Olympic Podium in 3m Springboard

Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Malaysia’s diver, aims for a podium finish in the women’s 3-meter springboard individual event at the Paris Olympics. The task is challenging but within reach. Bryan Nickson Lomas, technical director of diving, believes Dhabitah needs at least 330 points in the final to compete for medals. The 3m springboard individual event will begin tomorrow at the Paris Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis. Lomas notes that scoring 330 points or more gives Dhabitah a strong chance of reaching the podium.

The performance of other divers in the final will also play a significant role. For instance, in the men’s 10m platform synchronized event, a score of around 420 points secured bronze, though typically, much higher scores are needed. Dhabitah finished fourth in the 3m springboard individual event at Tokyo 2020 with a score of 326.15. This year, she has faced several challenges. A wrist injury forced her to withdraw from the women’s 10m platform synchronized event at the Fukuoka World Championships last year.

She also suffered a tricep injury at the Doha World Championships this year and recently had a fever at the Australian Open. Despite these setbacks, she has not exceeded 300 points in competitions this year. However, Lomas has observed positive improvements in her training and notes that she has “looked solid” leading up to the Games.

Lomas expects strong competition from divers like Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen from China, who secured the top two spots in Doha. He also anticipates strong performances from Kim Su-ji of South Korea, Maddison Keeney of Australia, and Sarah Bacon of the United States. These divers are likely to be major contenders in the event. He believes Nur Dhabitah can qualify for the final if she consistently scores 280 points or higher in the preliminaries and semi-finals.