Sarikei-born discus throw athlete Queenie Ting recently broke the national record in the women’s category, shattering a five-year-old record previously held by Choo Kang Ni from Johor. At a distance of 48.56 metre, the sportswoman inches closer to her target of breaking the 50-metre mark in the future.
Success driven by passion
Another Sarawakian has successfully etched her name in the record books in April when Sarikei-born Queenie Ting was crowned champion in the women’s discus event during the Malaysia Athlete’s Grand Prix held at the National Sports Council (NSC) Mini Stadium in Bukit Jalil. Queenie’s effort saw her managing a distance of 48.56 metres, beating the previous record of 47.91 metres held by Choo Kang Ni of Johor.
Sharing exclusive details, Queenie said that it was her last throw that determined everything that day. “We had six chances, but the first five of my throws were either foul or bad distances. And I was left with one last chance to finish the competition.”
Describing the moment, the 24-year-old lass also had to wait an hour and a half before the result was announced. “When the officials announced the results, I stood up and immediately cried. I hugged my coach and told him, finally, we did it!” She also credited her family for the enormous support they have given throughout her journey.
Previously, Queenie was a bronze medal winner at the 2019 Manila SEA Games. In the same year, she registered her previous best distance of 46.51 metres by the Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF).
How it started
Reminiscing the first time she took part in the discus event, she said that she was 14 when a teacher approached and suggested she compete in shot put. “At the time, I was big in size, even bigger than now. A teacher asked me if I would like to try shot-put. And I gave it a try,” she said.
The physical education degree student said that she enjoyed it first. However, when she tried her hand in another event — discus throw — she immediately fell in love with the sport. “I loved the moment when I released the discus, the body movement we had to do while throwing it felt very dynamic. It feels much like I was dancing. I also use discus throwing as a way to release my daily stress.”
Last September, Queenie revealed that she had to take time off from sports due to a motor injury and she was devastated. “I was involved in a road accident which affected my right arm.
I needed two months to recover and had to refrain from doing anything. I could only watch my teammates trained, and I was sad.”
Nonetheless, it did not hinder her from her regular work out. “Since I could not work my upper body, I used the two-month period to work on my lower body instead.” As a professional athlete, Queenie trains six days a week. According to her, three days are dedicated for throwing to training, while the remaining three are focused on strength training at the gym. Although it may sound tiring, Queenie opined otherwise. “Even though it can be tiring, I don’t feel tired because I love it! I enjoy every single throw that I make.”
Asked for advices for future athletes, she explained that passion and commitment are two of the most important things to have. “We need to love what we do, and not do something because someone forces us to do it. If you have a passion for something, everything else will be easy.
“For example, most athletes went through challenges during the pandemic. Early last year we could only go for training, but not competitions. We can’t even go out,” she said, referring to the movement control order (MCO) implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“Those days were very hard. Physically we were fine, but mentally we were exhausted. Every day we trained, not knowing when will we be able to compete. It almost felt like we were training for nothing,” she added. Regardless of the obstacles and challenges, Queenie achieved success this year with her latest milestone. Now she sets her eyes on another target — to be able to break the 50-metre barrier. “In order for me to achieve this goal, it is important that I have a positive mindset and stay focused.”
Training under amazing mentors
After a decade of involvement in the sport, Queenie said that she had met many amazing individuals who had impacted her throughout her career. From her first coach to her latest trainer, each had trained her to be better and shaped her into who she is now.
The first one who unearthed her potential was coach Thomas Ling, who taught her the fundamentals of discus throwing. “Coach Thomas trained me when I was 14 up to when I was 18 years old. He trusted me with the discus despite me being a newbie at the time.”
Queenie’s second trainer, Coach Frank was the one who helped build her characteristics. “Under his tutelage, I learned to be more confident.” She then explained that when she had just moved to Kuala Lumpur, she was still an introvert, a reclusive person. “I was extremely shy and it was more obvious during competitions, when I get around people. Usually, discus athletes shoutout loud when we release the throw throw, but I didn’t make a single sound. I didn’t even dare to do it,” she said with a laugh. However, Coach Frank helped her build her confidence, and it helped improve her performance. “From then on, I performed more aggressively during competitions.”
Currently, she is training under Mohd Ali Hamid, who became her trainer two years ago. The transition, however, was met with the pandemic which had hindered their training sessions together.
Despite the challenge, Queenie shared that Coach Ali had taught her how to make proper decisions in whatever she does. “He trained me to be more independent, to consider every decision before taking the next step.”
Queenie has since mature and blossomed into a world-class athlete, raking up achievements since her teenage years. With her determination, positive mindset, and efforts, we will definitely get to see more of Queenie in the coming years.
