SEA Games: Dipna Lim-Prasad overcomes personal hurdles to win silver

KUALA LUMPUR – When national hurdler Dipna Lim-Prasad walked into the Bukit Jalil Stadium on Tuesday (Aug 22), she had to fight the urge to cry as a wave of emotions threatened to overwhelm her just before her race in the SEA Games 400m hurdles final.

After all, it was just over a week ago that the 26-year-old’s participation at this year’s Games appeared to be in serious doubt after she suffered a fall during a training camp in Japan earlier this month.

The initial diagnosis from the physiotherapist in Japan was not positive, and there were fears that she had torn her meniscus.

Having just recovered from a month-long illness that kept her out of training in July, this piece of bad news proved too much to bear for Lim-Prasad as she broke down in Japan.

Even though she was eventually given the all-clear to compete, the emotional rollercoaster that Lim-Prasad went through continued to take a toll on her, and she spent the day before her 400m hurdles final crying in her hotel room.

Through sheer strength of will, however, Lim-Prasad managed to compose herself as she stepped onto the track at Bukit Jalil for the race.

Despite a slow start, a stunning sprint in the final stretch of the race saw the 2012 Olympian finish second in a season-best time of 1min 0.55sec to retain her silver medal in the event. 

The gold medal went to defending champion Nguyen Thi Huyen of Vietnam, who set a new SEA Games record of 56.06sec, while Thailand’s Jutamas Khonkham secured the bronze in a time of 1min 0.73sec.

What made Lim-Prasad's achievement even more impressive was the fact that she was actually fourth as she entered the final straight. But she somehow managed to find an extra burst of speed and overtook Thailand's Wassana Winatho before pipping Khonkam for the silver at the finish line.

Emotions were clearly still running high in Lim-Prasad when she spoke to the media following her race, as she struggled to hold back her tears when describing the difficulties she had faced in the lead-up to the Games.

“I was crying the whole of yesterday, so I’m trying to get through this interview without crying as well,” Lim-Prasad admitted with a wry smile.

She added: “It wasn’t my best timing in the race, but consider all the problems that I’ve had to go through over the past two years, with injury keeping me out of hurdling the whole of last year, I’m happy with winning the silver medal.

“Even when I came back to hurdling this year, I’ve been struggling in training and my races and have not been able to hit good timings, while I’ve also had my issues with illness and injuries.

“So at the start of the race, I was praying hard that things would go as smoothly as possible for me. Unfortunately, I got overtaken coming out of the bend, but I sprinted all out after crossing the last hurdle and so I’m relieved that I managed to pull through the race.”

Winning the silver has also restored Lim-Prasad’s confidence ahead of the remaining three events – the 400m, 4x100m and 4x400m relays – that she will be competing in at this Games.

“Having lost the most important one week (of preparation) before the Games, it was crucial for me to see if everything could come together for me when I raced,” she explained.

“So (winning) this race was a confidence booster…it's like a confirmation that I have everything I need to succeed within me, and I just need trust myself more when I run.

“Mentally, I think I'm now prepared to run the remainder of my events, and I even hope to set a new national record in the 400m on Thursday.

“I also think we’ve got a lot of potential in our relay team…Shanti (Pereira) has been doing really well, so let's hope that everything comes good for us on race day itself. We’re all feeling positive and feeding off each other’s energy!”