SEPANG: National diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises has stressed that he needs time to rest and rediscover his passion for the sport after enduring a tough outing at the Paris Olympics.
The 19-year-old, who was the first Malaysian athlete to secure Olympic qualification last year, said he struggled mentally during the preparation phase for the games.
Rhodict, who was making his Olympic debut in Paris, finished a lowly 25th from 26th divers in the men's 10 metre platform preliminaries and thus did not advance to the semi-finals. He had been tipped to reach the final.
Rhodict, Nur Dhabitah Sabri and coach Aznizal Najib returned from Paris today.
"At one point (during preparation phase) I actually lost myself, I lost my purpose. Thank God I was able to find myself before the Olympics," said Rhodict in a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport today.
"To be honest it was not a good experience but it is something I will learn from.
"My plan is to take a break. I really need to find myself and find my love for the sport again. Currently I am not in the right state of mind.
"Right now I have to rest because I have been pushing myself very hard. I have injured almost every inch of my muscles."
The Sarawakian, who was the only Malaysian diver to qualify on merit for Paris, said that he is still trying to digest what happened in Paris.
"I have still been thinking about it, about what went wrong and what I could have done better," said Rhodict.
"I have gone to a lot of competitions and managed to suppress my nerves but I could not do so during the Olympics.
"It is a learning process for me."
Rhodict made headlines last year after finishing 10th in the final at the Fukuoka World Championships which earned him his spot at the Paris Olympics.