My Mother, My Supporter

These women who have been quietly raising and nurturing their offspring to become the sports champions they are today are now their children’s loudest cheerleader; their next stop is London: the 30th Olympiad.

She used to jump off a bamboo bridge, and I would be waiting in the river to catch her - HARTINI LAMIM

IMAGINE having to watch your daughter jump off a 10m-high platform and into a vast pool of water regularly. Or watching your son hurtle around a track on a bicycle at breakneck speed.

That’s what you go through when you are the mothers of an Olympic-standard diver and cyclist respectively. Their children may be world-class competitors but that hasn’t stopped the mothers of Pandelela Rinong and Azizulhasni Awang from feeling nervous and afraid each time their children step into their respective arenas.

“The first time she jumped off the 10m platform, I couldn’t bear to watch! I had to go outside and watch from the car park!” recalls Pandelela’s mother, Hartini Lamim, 44.