Huang, once China's national champion, set to return to competition as a Malaysian

SHANGHAI - After being away from the platform for five years, former Chinese diver Huang Qiang has decided to get back into training again and return to competition.

The former men's national diving champion and now coach of Malaysia has not lost his hunger and is aiming to compete at next year's Olympic Games. This is his long-term dream and he hopes to realize it as a Malaysian.

Winning an Asian Games silver medal at the age of 16 in 1998 and beating Russian diving legend Dmitri Sautin three times in 1999, Huang was one of the strongest gold medal contenders for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but an unexpected injury cost him his Olympic chance and he had to withdraw from the squad just days before moving into the Olympic village.

"I think I've got everything I need, so I want to pursue something that I haven't got," said Huang, who moved to coach the Malaysian diving team in 2007 and received his Malaysian nationality a few days ago.

"I'm looking forward to competing at the Olympics very much. It's always been my dream," said the 29-year-old Huang.

"I want to dive on the Olympic stage very much because many people have told me that, no matter how much experience I had, competing at the Olympics is totally different. I want to experience it myself."

As a diver, Huang is the partner of China's Olympic and world champion Tian Liang in the synchro event. Before the Sydney Olympics, Huang and Tian dominated the men's 10m platform synchro and in the individual event Huang was described as the "invincible opponent of Sautin", as he always beat the Russian "King of Diving" in international competition.

"I was really sad when I knew I couldn't compete at the Olympics," Huang recalled. "But as time went by, I realized that there might be other ways to achieve that."

The year after he retired from the star-studded Chinese team in 2006, Huang signed with the Malaysian diving team.

With his former coach Yang Zhuliang, Huang helped the Malaysians make great progress and the team is now ranked second in Asia behind powerhouse China.

But on the world stage, the Malaysians may not be strong enough to realize Huang's Olympic dream.

His Olympic chance depends on how the Malaysian team performs at the current FINA World Championships in Shanghai, since the event is one of the most important qualifiers for the 2012 London Games. The top 12 finishers in individual events and the top three pairs in the synchro will earn Olympic berths.

"I hope my fellow divers can earn Olympic tickets this time, and after this event I will make the final decision whether to compete again or not. If we miss the Olympic berth, it's meaningless for me to come back," Huang told China Daily.

"Everyone has a dream. If I still have the ability to realize it, I want to have a try."

In case his Malaysian teammates do qualify for London, Huang resumed intensive training four months ago, and he has put himself through some pain.

"I know I can't compete with those young divers like I could at my peak, but I still want to try," he said.

"It's not easy to lose 10kg in such a short time, and at the beginning I even felt sleepy after a two-hour training session. I can't say how much I can regain compared with my peak, but I will try my best if I have the chance to compete at the Olympics."

China Daily

(China Daily 07/18/2011 page24)