Kimberly Bong: Answering Pandelela Rinong's challenge

Kimberly Bong knows that she has big shoes to fill.

With Malaysia’s diving stars Pandela Rinong, Nur Dhabitah Sabri and Cheong Jun Hoong opting out of the 2023 SEA Games to make room for others, all eyes were on the 21-year-old.

And Bong delivered, clinching gold on Monday (8 May) in the 3-metre springboard.

Recovered from injuries that have plagued her for the past two seasons, the Sarawak native did not get to raise her difficulty as intended, but was clearly in a different class as the first diver out.

Kimberly was pleased to capture one of two Malaysian medals in the event, with Ong Ker Ying taking bronze.

“I’m still a bit shaky. My score was lower, as I’d done 280 previously, but this time 276.3 was alright considering I lowered the difficulty compared to the other divers. With the circumstances and the conditions at the venue, with the glare coming from the front and the water, I think I did alright,” she told Olympics.com after extending Malaysia’s dominance in the event at the biennial Games.

Monday's victory ensured Malaysia has won the women’s 3m springboard event at every SEA Games since Cheong Jun Hoong won gold in 2011 in Indonesia.

Bong was visibly pleased but does not want to be compared to Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Pandela Rinong, who has already won nine SEA Games gold medals, and the other Malaysian aces.

“I would say I’m still far away from them. They’ve been training far longer than I have I still have to work on my technique, my training skills and stuff,” said Bong, who suffered a career-threatening shoulder joint injury in 2019 just months after recovering from hip pain.

This is her first major event since November. The 2018 Youth Olympian won gold in the women’s 3m springboard at the 58th Malaysia Invitational Age Group Diving Championships last April.