July 7, 2020 3:05 PM
R Krithana has 60% vision in both eyes. (S
Thinakaran pic)
PETALING
JAYA: The National Sports Council (NSC) has gone to the aid of a women’s triple
jump champion whose eyesight has been on the decline for the past three years,
providing medical care in a bid to arrest any further deterioration of her
condition.
National
Sports Institute consultant doctor Dr Ramlan Aziz said R Krithana, 23, told him
she presently has 60% vision in both eyes.
Ramlan
began evaluating Krithana’s condition on Monday as part of a process by NSC to
determine whether she should continue her career as an able-bodied athlete or
switch categories to para-athlete.
“My
role is to ascertain the nature of her vision problem, with a view towards
arresting the deteriorating eyesight if possible, for the sake of her future.
Dr Ramlan Aziz says what matters is Krithana’s
life, not her athletics career.
“Sports
is secondary, life comes first,” he said. “Now, it is not about whether she
competes as an able-bodied athlete or a para-athlete.”
He
added that Krithana would see an ophthalmologist soon, after which a plan would
be made to address her condition.
He
said her condition might not have reached this stage if corrective measures
were taken earlier.
NSC’s
athletes’ division director Jefri Ngadirin said yesterday that Krithana wished
to continue competing in the able-bodied category.
This
followed talk of a move to shift her to the para-athletes division due to her
deteriorating eyesight.
However,
Perak Amateur Athletics Association president Karim Ibrahim said Krithana
should be given extensive medical assistance. He said the priority should be on
improving her eyesight, not winning medals in Paralympic competitions.
Krithana,
from Bagan Serai, had experienced a drop in vision since 2017 which caused her
to finish seventh in last year’s SEA Games in the Philippines. She was unable
to see the jumping board and had several foul jumps.
She
finished fifth in last year’s Asian Championships in Doha, leaping 13.33m. She
has a personal best of 13.48m, achieved in Kazakhstan in June 2017.
After the SEA Games, a Paralympics coach took her to be assessed by a
consultant optometrist and a Paralympic classifier. However, she was forced to
return home in January before receiving her results as her father was ill.
Tony Mariadass
Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz on his first day
yesterday (Monday) as a consultant doctor at the National Sports Institute
(ISN), after having retired recently, was handed national triple jump champion,
R. Krithana, to look at her failing eyesight issue.
“I was surprised when the National
Sports Council (NSC) sports manager brought Krithana to me and asked to look
into her case as she has been referred to me,” said Dr Ramlan an eminent member of the sports medicine, sports
science technology, anti-doping community of practitioners in Malaysia and a
sports administrator, retired after 32 years’ in service on April 21 upon
turning 60.
“I had a long
chat with her to understand her case and when asked since when she was having
the loss of vision problem, she said since 2017.
“When asked how
much her condition has deteriorated since then, she said about 30 percent.”
Krithana had gone
for a test in December after the Philippines Sea Games, when a Paralympic coach
took her to be assessed by a consultant optometrist and a Paralympic
classifier.
But before
she could get her result, the 23-year-old Krithana from Bagan Serai, had
returned home in January as my father was ill (T. Ramasamy passed away
of kidney failure in March). And because of the Covid 19 pandemic in March, she stayed on at home
helping her brother with some construction work.
Krithana had
finishing seventh (she had complained that she could not see the jumping board
and had a few foul jumps) at last year’s Sea Games in Philippines. She came in
fifth earlier in Asian championship in Doha with a distance of 13.33m.
She
has a personal best of 13.48m, which she achieved at the G. Kosanov Memorial
meet in Almaty in Kazakhstan in June 2017. At the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in
2017, she finished fourth (13.19m)
Krithana, when contacted in April had confirmed
that she is considering becoming a para athlete, but NSC’s
athletes’ division director Jefri Ngadirin, said yesterday that Krithana still
wants to compete in the able-bodied category.
But Krithana, who is a contract navy personnel, and
runs for them, also had said when last spoken to in April, that
she had no knowledge of her actual condition and whether
she will qualify as a para athlete.
She
also had said that she hopes to get back my normal eye sight if possible or
that it can be corrected.
However, Krithana a mass communication
undergraduate with University Putra Malaysia, when FMT tried to reach her now,
failed to respond.
Dr Ramlan after having met Krithana
yesterday said: “My role is just to have a clearer picture of the nature of her
vision problem, with a view towards arresting the deteriorating eye sight if
possible, for the sake of her future.
“Sports is a secondary issue, life
comes first. At this point it is not about whether she compete as an
able-bodied athlete or para athlete.
“I will be arranging for her to see
an ophthalmologist as soon as possible once we get the appointment.
“All will follow, once we have a full
idea and a proper plan for her condition.”
Ends.
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