KUCHING: Neither daunted by national records nor distracted by medals, Sarawak duo Elvin Yap Zhi Xian and Ormilla Octavia Codday Nyadau are simply chasing progress at the Borneo Games 2025 – striving for personal bests.
Athletics at the Borneo Games will be staged from September 25 to 27 at the Sarawak Stadium, where Elvin and Ormilla are expected to feature among Sarawak’s most promising track talents.
For Elvin, a 21-year-old hurdler from Kuching, the target is to break through the 14-second barrier in the 110-metre hurdles. His current personal best stands at 14.4 seconds, while the national record remains out of reach at 13.67 seconds.
“I’m healthy and ready for this competition. My focus is on improving myself, not chasing records just yet,” said Elvin.
He previously reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Junior Championships before injury cut his campaign short.
Elvin’s most recent outing was earlier this month at the Malaysian Educational Institutions Games (SIPMA) in Johor, hosted at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).
He knows the competition at the coming Games will be stiff but remains unfazed.
“I don’t see rivals as stronger or weaker. We’re all on the same level. I just want to give my best for Sarawak,” he told Sarawak Tribune during a training session at the Sarawak Stadium recently.
After the Games, the 190-centimetre-tall lad will turn his attention to the Varsity Track & Field (VTF) Grand Final 2025, scheduled for November 14 to 16 at the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Stadium Sports Complex.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old sprinter Ormilla, a Berawan from Long Jegan in Baram, Miri, and currently based at Sekolah Sukan Malaysia Sabah, is aiming to lower her marks in both the 100 metres and 200 metres events.
Her current best times are 12.02 seconds and 24.79 seconds respectively.
“My expectation is simple: I just want to run faster than before. If a medal comes, that will be a bonus,” said Ormilla, who has admired Jamaican sprint legend, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, since her primary school days.
Ormilla admitted the field will be highly competitive but insisted it fuels her determination.
“There are many strong runners, but I see it as motivation to push myself harder,” she said.
The pair represent a fresh wave of Sarawak athletics talent, driven by the hunger to improve and the dream of stepping onto bigger stages such as regional and international meets.
