This article reminds me of proly one of the biggest moment in my sporting career. The year was 1999, I was in my 2nd year in UKM when I received a letter from NSC stating that I was selected to be in their Gemilang 2001 project. Gemilang 2001 was a project that was supposed to prepare athletes for 2001 SEA Games, which KL was gonna be hosting. After Sukom 98, this was my 2nd stint in a national sports project team & of course I was honored. I had tried to get a place in the 1999 Jakarta SEA Games team but failed. After my illness in 1998, just before the World "B" Championships in Ipoh, I couldn't seem to get back to where I was.
The 1st requirement was for me to stay in Bkt Jalil. The NSC was even prepared to ask me to switch from UKM to UPM, where all the NSC athletes was furthering their studies. After much thought, I declined the move. So I was allowed to stay in UKM, but was given a monthly allowance of only RM100, compared to the RM700 I can get if I stay in Bkt Jalil. Definitely a setback, but I soldiered on. But after almost 10 years in cycling, it was beginning to take its toll on my finances. After all, I was only a student.
Then came the qualifications test. I was in the track cycling team. My pet events was the sprints & the kilometer. So they had to test me on two aspects: my power output & lung capacity (VO2 Max). So I went to the NSI for the tests. My coach was there. The doctors was there. I felt like a lab rat. I some ways, I was. I had to do the power test 1st. My power output was as expected from a sprinter, in high 800W-900W range, although my coach told me Rosman Alwi produced 1000W+. So all was good. Then the VO2 Max test. They put all those apparatus on me, I had to wear a mask, they clipped my nose so that I breathe thru the mouth only. I found it really difficult to breathe. After what felt like an eternity, I stopped. The 1st thing I heard from one of the docs was,"Aik? Abis dah?". That was an indication that my test was shorter than expected. I told him I felt like throwing up. My coach told me to take the test some other time.
After a few days, the coach came to me with the results. The conclusion was I was not talented enuff to be a sprinter. NOT TALENTED ENUFF. After 9 years, rising from a complete nobody in sprinting to a 4th place finish in the Sportexcel Nationals in just 6 months, beating some of the biggest names in sprinting (Edwin Ng, Haris Fadzillah), finishing 2nd in the National series to Rosman Alwi, 2 bronze medals in sprints & the kilo in the 1997 National Championships..in turned out to be I wasn't talented enuff... Wow! A few weeks after that, I quit the Sea Games project & in 2000, I decided to quit cycling for good.
A few years back, the NSI embarked on a talent scouting program. Similar to what was done in the US & Australia, coaches went to schools conducting tests on schoolchildren to identify talented athletes at a very early age. They conducted the vertical jump test, which was a basis to discover schoolchildren with fast twitch muscles. Some of the athletes from other sports was also given the opportunity to try other sports. This was how one of the athletes in track & field ended up being a cyclist instead. If this was done during my time, I wonder in which sport I could've ended.
Talent is just an indicator. Hard work is another. Those without talent would proly have to work harder than those talented athletes. But those talented athletes who chose not to work hard just becoz they're talented, would've ended nowhere too. The best way is to have both, talent & hard work. Becoz there's definitely no shortcut to success in sports.
Livestrong. Run stronger.
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