Maziah Mahusin was left in tears after finishing last in her 400m heats at the 2013 SEA Games yesterday, though it hasn't dented her drive for hard work.
Maziah and fellow London 2012 Olympian Ak Hafiy Tajuddin Pg Rositi both finished at the back of their pack during yesterday's heats, with neither able to break the best times which they set in London more than a year ago.
Running in the first track event of the day, Maziah clocked 1:02.64 while Ak Hafiy's time was 49.94s - with their best times 59.28s and 48.67s respectively.
Maziah had a strong start at the Wunna Theikdi Stadium yesterday but was unable to maintain her pace as she reached the final bend.
Ak Hafiy, meanwhile, ran in the middle of the pack until the half-way mark and was able to keep pace with Singapore's Zubin Percy Muncherji and Thailand's Srikharin Wannasa before falling behind the duo in the last 100m.
Both Ak Hafiy and national coach Isidro del Prado chose not to comment for this story, though Maziah was more than willing to talk to The Brunei Times after taking some time to gather herself.
"I'm really disappointed, very sad... It's killing me," said the composed lass.
"I tried my best... But that's part of sports, winning and losing.
"Maybe I haven't peaked in time yet this year.
"But this is not going to stop me from training. I know I have to work harder but I need enough support from others," she added
The 20-year-old admitted she should have paced herself better in the opening 200m, though the positive from that was she is now thinking of competing over that distance in the future if possible.
"My mistake was I was too fast in the first 200m... I need to train more for speed and endurance," she noted.
"I've got a good 200m time during training... Around 25 seconds... So maybe I might compete in that in the future, though that is something I have to discuss first with coach.
"That's not going to stop me from competing in the 400m though," she insisted.
Vietnam's Quach Thi Lan (54.35s), Thailand's Atchima Engchuan (55.40) and Myanmar's Yin Yin Khine (55.48s) progressed to the final from Maziah's first heat while Thailand's Treewadee Yongphan (54.63s), Vietnam's Nyugen Thi Oanh (54.85s) and Myanmar's Aye Aye Than (57.08s) advanced from the second heat.
Treewadee would go on to claim gold with 53.10s while Thi Lan (53.37s) and Thi Oanh (53.70s) took silver and bronze.
The Philippines' Edgardo Alejan was first across the line in Ak Hafiy's heat when he clocked 48.02s, followed by Indonesia's Edy Ariansyah (48.05s) and Thailand's Srikharin Wannassa (48.21s).
Joining the trio in the final from the first men's 400m heat were Singapore's Loh Guo Pei (47.83s), Cambodia's Samorn Kieng (47.86s) and the Philippines' Archand Christian Bagsit (48.06s)
It was a Filipino one-two in the final when Bagsit beat Alejan for gold, with the former clocking 47.21s and the latter 47.44s.
Indonesia's Ariansyah took bronze with a time of 47.77s.
