File photo shows Ormilla who broke the 200m record (Girls Under-18) at the 2024 MSSM Championships held at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh. Her time of 24.79sec is also the Sarawak state record for the distance.
KUCHING (June 22): Sarawak’s fastest woman Ormilla Octavia Codday Nyadau, whose pet events are the 100 and 200m, made a golden debut in the 400m at the Malaysia Open on Sunday. The 20-year-old clocked 58.26sec with a gutsy finish to beat off a field which included aspiring medallists for this year’s Malaysia Games (Sukma).
Her debut in the longer sprint was made more difficult as she had to run the semi-finals and final only six hours apart. She actually ran faster in 57.45s to win her semi-final.
Ormilla sat back in the first half lap of the final before picking up the pace at the UPM Stadium at Serdang. She led coming into the final 100m. But Terengganu’s Nur Aliya Najihah fought back stride for stride to lose via a photo-finish in 58.38s. Johor’s Nurul Aliah Maisarah was a close third in 58.89s.
The switch to train and try out the 400m looks like a strategic decision for the Sarawakian. The Berawan native from Kuala Baram (near Miri) has made her name since 2022 as one of the fastest schoolgirls in the nation. She capped her MSSM career with silver in the 100m (12.21s) and a gold and new record in the 200m (24.79s) in 2024.
She was the bronze medallist in both the 100m (12.19s) and 200m (24.94s) at the 2024 Sukma. It’s apparent that she remains the underdog in the shorter sprints for the 2026 Sukma in August.
Terengganu’s Izzatul Musfirah, who was the silver medallist in both sprint races at the 2024 Sukma, will be the hot favourite in the coming 2026 edition. She has improved her PB to 11.71s (100m) and 24.24s (200m).
Last Sunday’s exploits has instantly made Ormilla a gold medal prospect in August. Her semi-final time compares favourably with the time of 57.74s at the 2024 Sukma obtained by gold medallist Shayna M. Periera of Malacca.
Shayna also qualified for the final on Sunday but decided to scratch after clocking 60.77s in the semis. Nurul Aliah, who was beaten to third place by Ormilla in the final, was the bronze medallist at the 2024 Sukma.
Incidentally, Ormilla’s time of 57.45s is just 0.8sec off the Sarawak 400m record set in 2009. Her fans are likely to hope that she does not completely abandon the shorter sprint races.
She already holds the state record for 200m (24.79s). And her PB for 100m (12.06s) is only 0.05s off the state record. Breaking that 31-year-old record can also make her the first woman in Sarawak to run the 100m under 12secs!
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