Malaysian skeleton racer Jonathan Yaw is dreaming of representing the country at the upcoming Winter Olympics after tasting success in South Korea.
The Sarawakian recently clinched a bronze medal in the Korean Cup held in Pyeongchang, clocking a time of 1:45.93 to finish behind Jung Seung-gi (1:43.25) and Kim Ji-soo (1:43.59).
His latest success marked Malaysia's growing interest in winter sports.
Despite being a tropical country, Malaysia already had representatives on the grandest stage, with figure skater Julian Yee and alpine skier Jeffrey Webb making the nation's Winter Olympics debut in 2018.
Webb then made his second appearance at Beijing 2022, where he was joined by fellow skier Aruwin Salehhuddin this time.
Yaw almost tagged along with them in China, falling short of qualifying with a world ranking of 71st, but he remained upbeat of representing the country in Italy in four years' time.
"I hope that I'll be able to bring pride to the people of Malaysia and make the Jalur Gemilang a familiar sight on the stage of winter sliding sports around the world.
"Hopefully, through my journey, I’m able to inspire the next generation to break down barriers and chase their dreams, regardless of whether it’s in sports or any other passion they might have," he said.
Yaw was one of three Malaysian athletes selected for the Pyeongchang 2018 Legacy Foundation to undergo intensive training in South Korea, with hopes of qualifying for the 2022 edition through various qualification races around the world during the 2021/22 International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) season.
The other two were bobsleigh pair Tania William from Sabah and Eijas Madhiah from Terengganu.
