Her desire pushed her way past the expectations of many – including her own coach – when she deservedly took Malaysia’s one athlete quota for Athens, but it is Jae-Young that Mon Redee credits the most for helping her make history.
“Lee always instilled to me and teammates, that Malaysian archery team also can be same level with other countries’ whose achievements were much better at that time,” she said on her old coach, now the Malaysian team manager. “What we need to do is not to give up easily and undergo continuous training to improve the aspects needed in this sport.”
“He always instilled dreams high to succeed such as achieving higher scores and winning medals.” The Korean has overseen Malaysia at every Olympics since.
Mon Redee’s legacy in Malaysian archery was remembered again in Paris 2024 when Ariana Nur Diana Mohamad Zairi, Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil and Syaqiera Mashayikh became the first full three athlete women’s team to compete at an Olympics.
Although encouraged by another landmark achievement, Mon Redee now wants Malaysia to progress in the Games themselves and be established as a real force on the world stage.
“By qualifying for the 2004 Olympics, one of my intentions was to show all athletes in Malaysia that qualifying for the Olympics is not impossible.”
“It’s been 20 years, but still no results. Every athlete wants to win a medal, so all parties must work together to help them in any way they can.”
She’s been out of the game for over 10 years, but Mon Redee is still doing her bit towards helping a maiden Olympic medal for Malaysia, coaching young archers at the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 70 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur – alongside lecturing on sports psychology.
