Pole Vaulters Celebrate Aidilfitri In Taiwan For National Mission

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- As Malaysians celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri tomorrow, four of the country's pole vaulters have had to temporarily forget about their celebrations when they will be taking on the country's challenge at international competitions.

The four athletes are Muhammad Naufal Shahrul Afzam, Muhammad Hafidzul Ain, Nor Sarah Adi and Noor Shahreen Jamizan who will compete in the 2026 Taiwan International Pole Vault Championship and the Nantou-Sun Moon Lake Pole Vault Invitational Championship which will be held from March 22 to 25.

For Nor Sarah Adi, the situation is not new to her and considers her sacrifices as part of the vagaries of an elite athlete.

"For me as an athlete, not celebrating Raya is normal and that is the sacrifice if we want to be national athletes.

"Even though it is not Raya, I will still do my best there because for me it is the real Raya," she said in a video shared by Malaysian Athletics (MA) today.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Naufal, is saddened of not being able to celebrate Raya for the first time with his family but it has not diminished his enthusiasm to bring glory to Malaysia.

"I feel a little sad not being able to celebrate Raya with my family for the first time. But I am doing all this because I want to achieve what I set out for.

"So my parents also said to sacrifice Raya first because when I return from the competition, I can celebrate Raya too," he said.

Meanwhile, national pole vault coach Roslinda Samsu believes the situation will not affect her team’s performance as everyone involved knew about the competition since December last year.

"When I first got the date, I asked the athletes whether they wanted to go or not because it was during Hari Raya and they all said they were ready.

"So for me there was no problem mentally because they had already set a target to participate in this tournament and were preparing to do their best," she said.

-- BERNAMA