Zaiton Othman

Biography for Zaiton Othman

First Name: Zaiton

Last Name: Othman

Title: Psychologist

Organization: National Sports Council

Country: Malaysia

Date of Birth: 03/05/1959

Place of Birth: Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang

Spouses:Rosli Miskam (current)

Education:

Primary

• Paya Keladi National Primary School, Pulau Pinang. 1967-1972

Secondary

• St. George Girls School, (2nd Grade) Pulau Pinang. 1973-1977 M.C.E.
• Tertiary
• Specialist Teachers Training Institute, Cheras, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. 1978-1980
• Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor. 1983-1987 B.Physical
• San Diego State University, United States. (offered a scholarship by the National Sports Council) 1990-1992 M.Physical

CV:

• 1975 Attended the then Seap Games (now SEA GAMES). The beginning of her sports career.
• Made her debut at the Asean Youth Athletic Tournament.
• Won six gold medal at the St. Georges Sport Events.
• Long Jump Gold medallist, new records for 200m (26.7sec) and 400m (59.3 sec) in the Penang School Sport Council. (MSSPP)
• Gold medal for 4 x 400 at the Malaysian School Sports event. (MSSM)
• Finished 4th placing at the 400m SEA Games.
• 1977 Attached to the National Electric Board (NEB).
• 1978 Won gold medal in the Asian Games 4 x 400 event.
• 1979 Won 4 x 400m gold medal at the SEA Games.
• 1980 Teacher, Union High School, Pulau Pinang.
• Coach, Penang School Sport Council (MSSPP).
• 1981 Participated the Sea Games in Manila. Won three gold and a silver. (Won the Heptathlon gold medal (5338pts), 4 x 400m, 4 x 100m gold, high jump silver and long jump bronze).
• 1981 Crowned the "Heptathlon Queen" in the Sea Games.
• 1982 4th placing in the Asian Games Heptathlon.
• 1983 Gold medal in the SEA Games Heptathlon events (5326 pts).
• 1983 Crowned the "Heptathlon Queen", in the Sea Games.
• 1983-1987 Studying at the Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, Zaiton represented the University on many occasions both nationally and internationally.
• 1984 Won gold medal in Asean Cup in Manila, Philippines.
• 1985 Withdraw from the 1985 Bangkok Sea Games to concentrate on her studies.
• Aug 1985 Participated in the World University Games in Kobe, Japan. (The only woman in the Malaysian Contingent)
• 1987 Continued teaching at the Union High School, Pulau Pinang.
• 1988 Won the gold medal in the Malaysian Championship.
• Sep 1988 Coach, 2nd Asian Junior Championship, Singapore.
• Dec 1988 Three-month trainning in Perth, Australia for the 1989 Sea Games.
• 1989 Won the heptathlon gold medal for the third time in the Sea Games in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. (Zaiton then announced her retirement from sports)
• Sep 1989 Sports Development Officer, National Sports Council.
• Mar 1990 Left for the United States to further studies in sports psychology.
• 1992 Psychologist, National Sports Institute (NSI).
• 1996 Represented the country at the Asian Veterans Championship in Seoul, where she won gold medals in the 4x100m, javelin and silver medal in long jump.
• 2001 At the World Veteran meet in Sydney Australia, missed out on a podium finish when she emerged fourth in the javelin.
• Sep 22-29, 2005 Appointed as the Chef de Mission for the Malaysian contingent to the 4th Women's Islamic Games.

• Member, Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (AAU) junior squad committee.
• 2006 Deputy chairman, Sports Goodwill Ambassadors (SGA)

Awards: 1981 Penang Sportwoman of the Year.
1981 P.J.M. Pingat Jasa Masyarakat, Pulau Pinang.
1982 Penang Sportwoman of the Year.
1982 National Sportswoman of the Year.
1983 Penang Sportswoman of the Year.
Jun 1983 A.M.N. Ahli Mangku Negara, Agong.
1984 Female Sport Personality by Malay Mail Sports Poll '93.
1987 Chancellor's Gold Medal Universiti Pertanian Malaysia.
Nov 2001 Anugerah Alumni Jasamu Dikenang by Universiti Putra Malaysia

Women athletes have come a long way since the trail-blazing days of M. Rajamani, Rosalind Singha Ang and Zaiton Othman. So meteoric has been their that these stalwarts believe that it is only a matter of time before a woman wins Malaysia’s first Olympic gold medal.

WHEN Malaysia first made their appearance in the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 – a year before the Independence Day, there was only one rose among the thorns in the 33-member squad – Annie Choong in athletics.

But over the last 50 years, Malaysian women have blossomed into a respected force in local and international sports.

Women’s participation in major Games has also increased. More than that, the women athletes are now major medal winners in tournaments.

High-flying days: Zaiton Othman used to win medal after medal in the heptathlon event.

Former national stars – Zaiton Othman and Rosalind Singha Ang – who were among the trailblazers, said they hoped to see better things ahead for the Malaysian women athletes.

Former heptathlon great Zaiton says she would not be surprised if the first Malaysian Olympic gold medallist is a woman.

“Malaysian women athletes are making waves in international stage. We already have several stars in our ranks,” said Zaiton.

“The good news is that there is so much room for women to improve as far as sports is concerned. Their true potential has not been tapped yet,” said Zaiton.

Zaiton Othman

“If we can continue to progress, I will not be surprised to see women not only taking part in the Olympics but even winning medals.”

Currently, only men have won medals at the Olympic Games – and all have been badminton players.

Women, however, produced the country’s first two world champions.

Nicol David showed she is a dominant force in squash when she won the world title twice (2005-2006) while Esther Cheah won it in 2005. Unfortunately, both squash and bowling are not Olympic sports.

But there are others who have made Malaysia proud either at the world or Asian level. They are the likes of bowler Shalin Zulkifli, pole vaulter Roslinda Samsu and shuttler Wong Mew Choo.

There have been other past greats too besides Zaiton and Rosalind. They are athletes M. Rajamani, who became the first woman Asian Games gold medallist in 1966, G. Shanti, Josephine Mary, Marina Chin, Mumtaz Jaafar; shuttlers Sylvia Ng, Cecilia Tan, shooter Nurul Hudda Baharin; and swimmer Nurul Huda Abdullah.

Zaiton however, hoped that women would continue to scale greater heights.

“Those days, we had our challenges too. I remember we had to stay at this police barrack as part of our centralised training for the 1981 SEA Games. The roof was made of asbestos and we were drenched in our own sweat. It was not comfortable but, through the hardships, we went on to win glory for the country,” she said.

“If we had had Sports Science input those days, our performances would probably have been better.

Shuttle queen: Rosalind Singha Ang looking at newspaper cuttings of her exploits years ago.

“Times have changed. Now the focus on men and women is equal. But like the men, the women athletes are pressured into focusing only on academics. The facilities and the monetary rewards are better and some athletes are getting plain lazy.”

Another significant change that Zaiton noted was the participation of women in sports administration. There are many women leaders in sports and that is a major boost for women, says Zaiton, who will be the deputy chef-de-mission for the Korat SEA Games in December.

Unlike Zaiton, the 1965 Malaysian Open women’s singles badminton champion Rosalind, who is in her 60s, has been out of touch with sports since venturing into her own business in 1979.

Strangely though, Rosalind's first medal – a silver – did not come from badminton, She won it in a cycling event held during the Merdeka Celebration in Penang in 1957.

Despite being out of sports, Rosalind hopes to see Malaysian women making it big.

“I hear a lot about Nicol. I think she has done a lot and she deserves to be commended. But I do hear about other women champions. But one day they win and they lose another day. This is something to look into,” said the Kedahan.

“During my career, we had top athletes like Rajamani and Marina. Although the focus was more on men at that time, these athletes did not let it get to them.”

She also urged women athletes to be mentally strong.

Track blazer: Rajamani believes that support from parents is vital if we are to see the emergence of world class athletes from Malaysia.

“Women can be easily intimidated. I remember the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok. I was a greenhorn and I partnered Teh Kew San in the mixed doubles. But we did well to reach the final. We were up against the Malaysian giants Eddy Choong-Tan Gaik Bee,” recalled Rosalind.

“I took the first serve but it was tapped with such ferocity by Eddy that the shuttle hit my head. I was shaken. But my partner Kew San told me to not fall for the intimidation.

“He told me I was good and to believe in myself. We won the gold – it was my first gold in Asiad.”

Rajamani too felt that the women had come a long way as far as sports is concerned, thanks to the support from the government.

But she feels that more work needs to be done.

Rajamani, who used to treasure her one-hour training session in her busy schedule as a teacher, said that athletes must take pride in representing the country.

“The athletes now are lucky indeed. They enjoy better facilities and good incentives but, unfortunately, talents are scarce. They are a pampered lot too. This is really sad,” said Rajamani, who represented the country at the 1964 Olympic Games.

Rajamani, who took up coaching after retirement and saw the emergence of Marina Chin under her guidance, however, was quick to add that parental support was crucial.

Zaiton Othman merupakan bekas olahragawati jaguh Heptathlon Malaysia. Beliau merupakan pemegang rekod kebangsaan di dalam acara heptathlon.

Zaiton for IOC Women and Sport Trophy 2010

As a recognition for her contributions towards sports, Zaiton Othman (picture) has been nominated for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Women and Sport Trophy 2010 award.

The Women and Sport Committee of Olympic Council of Malaysia selected Zaiton as Malaysia's candidate for the prestigious award. The selection was endorsed by OCM President, Tunku Imran ibni Almarhum Tuanku Jaafar recently.

The IOC Women and Sport Trophies are awarded annually to promote the advancement of women in sport. The world body wants to recognize outstanding achievements and contributions made to develop, encourage and strengthen the participation of women and girls at all levels in the sports world.

Six trophies are awarded - one winner at world level and one each to Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Ocenia. Some would be given Diplomas. In 2008, Malaysia's nominee Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said was the international winner.

Zaiton, 50, who is the Director of Athletes Welfare at National Sports Council, has been an athlete and official for more than two decades.

She was know as the "Iron Lady" of Malaysian sports because of her domination ini the gruelling heptathlon event. Zaiton won a total of 10 gold medals at SEA Games and Asian Veterans Meets and a few silver and bronzes at Asian Games and Asian Track and Field meets from 1979- 1989.

Upon retirement from competitive sport, Zaiton, a graduate in Physical Education, did her post graduate studies in Sports Psychology and became a Sports Officer with the NSC so that she could devote full time to guiding, counselling and motivating women to pursue excellence as athletes, coaches and leaders.

Marriage and motherhood has not diminished Zaiton's passion and commitment to sports and she remain an inspiring role model for not only elit athletes, but for all youths, men and women.

Her contributiosn towards women and sports include talent identification of girls all over the country (5-11 years of age), conducting camps, seminars and workshops for girls in schools and adult athletes.

Zaiton also is actively involved in various organizations, including OCM's Women and Sport Committe headed by its Vice President, Low Beng Choo.