M'sian athlete wins hearts for finishing race despite injury

Track and field athlete Wilson Quaik garnered the admiration of Malaysians with his gutsy performance at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games 2023 in Cambodia.

This was after videos of him pushing through an injury to finish the 1,500m race at the biennial multi-sport games were circulated online.

In a one-minute and five-second video posted on Facebook, Quaik appeared to be leading in the final lap of the 1,500m race when he suddenly began hobbling and collapsed to the ground off the track.

He was then seen gripping his right leg as first aid personnel rushed to his side.

Meanwhile, his two competitors behind him quickly overtook him on the track.

It was reported that Quaik was disqualified following his fall.

Despite this, the 19-year-old bravely stood up and, after hobbling a few times, continued running to the finish line despite being far behind the other two athletes.

The Facebook video of his performance was viewed about 230,000 times at the time of writing.

It saw Malaysians expressing pride in Quaik for overcoming his pain to finish the race.

Many called him a fighter for uplifting the country’s image and dignity through his perseverance.

Some described him as a hero and said he should be held as an example for all Malaysians.

This is Quaik’s debut at the SEA Games. The young athlete trained in decathlon since he was 15 years old.

He had previously broken the Malaysia Games record last year by scoring 6,230 at Bukit Jalil in the event.

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