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Displaced Palestinians wait to receive United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) aid, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Mar 7, 2024. (Photo: Reuters/Mohammed Salem)
The achievement comes months after Aisyah made the decision to launch a comeback.
SINGAPORE: Back at Tangeum Lake eight years after she made history for Singapore, rower Saiyidah Aisyah had one thing in mind - qualify for the Olympic Games.
And while the goal was the same as it was in 2016, she was now a different athlete.
"I see things in a different perspective," said Aisyah, who turned 36 on Saturday (Apr 20).
"I don't feel old, I feel more experienced, I feel like a big sister to some of the athletes."
Competing in the women’s 2,000m lightweight single sculls at the Asian and Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea, on Sunday, the Singaporean had to finish among the top five to book her spot in the upcoming Paris Olympics.
But Aisyah finished sixth out of six competitors, and there were tears after the race, she told CNA.
"I didn't know about this qualification rule, so my thought when I went back to land was that I didn't qualify," she recalled.
