Sometimes being slow and steady doesn't necessary wins the race.

Following her disqualification during the heats of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), a more cautious and wary Maziah Mahusin failed to impress by clocking a 1:10.56 in the Girls' 400-metre hurdles final B race at Singapore's Bishan Stadium on Monday.

"I didn't expect that but I have to accept it. Well I do feel disappointed because of my time. It's because I was worried about being disqualified (again), so I had to be careful with every step that I took and that's a bit of a bother," said the 17-year-old.

She clocked 1:11.52 in Heat One of the Girls' 400-metre hurdles race on Thursday, only to find out later that she had been disqualified.

The match report revealed that Maziah fell foul of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Rule No 168.7a, which stated the former Berakas English School student trailed her leg below the horizontal plane of the top of the hurdle at the instant of clearance.

Chef-de-mission Mariam Ulat revealed that the offence was committed at the second hurdle.

Maziah's Monday time of 1:10.56 was still a distant cry from her personal best of 1:08.32 which she clocked during the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) trials in March.

The current national record stands at 1:06.00, set by Marsita Kamal Jumat.

However, not all is lost for the former Berakas English School student as her unfortunate experience has only ignited her desire to be at the very top.

"My techniques in hurdles are improving so that's a good thing. It's a very hard event and it takes time to achieve the goal but I will not give up," said Maziah.

"All I have to do is keep on training and focus. I have to be patient until I achieve my goal. I did my best already but my best was just not good enough," she added.

Having only picked up the sport two years ago, Maziah trains diligently for two hours, five days a week to achieve her goal of showcasing the capabilities of Bruneian female athletes to the world.

Though Maziah is still quite a ways behind, compared to the level of international competitions, she has already tasted many successes in national competitions and meets.

In this year's edition of the National Sports Festival (PSK), she grabbed seven gold medals for Brunei-Muara 100m, 100m hurdles, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay.

Maziah also holds three junior national records 400m hurdles (1:08.32), 100m hurdles (18.05 seconds) and 800m (2:37.00).

The exposure to the congregation of junior world-class athletes on the field will only pay ten-folds to her future growth as an athlete and a competitor.

"I learnt and got a lot of experience here through the athletes from other countries.

"We share our experience together and when my coach (Dario de Rosas) and I return, we will focus on improving my techniques," she said.

Maziah is one of three national athletes that competed at the inaugural Games in Singapore.

National swimmer Jeremy Joint Riong broke two personal records in the outing: 1:11.27 in the 100m butterfly and 30.68s in the 50m butterfly.

Meanwhile 17-year-old Amanda Liew Jia Xin clocked 28.25s in the 50m freestyle on Thursday to set a new national record, erasing her previous record of 28.64s.

Courtesy from Brunei Times