Egyptian diver Malak Tawfik, 16, hopes to control nerves ahead of Paris Olympics debut

Teenager competes in 10m platform preliminaries on Monday and is soaking up the experience of Paris 2024

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At just 15 years of age, Egyptian Malak Tawfik rocked up to the African Diving Championship in Durban, South Africa, last December and clinched 10m platform gold to secure herself a maiden appearance at the Olympics.

Now 16, Tawfik is the second-youngest athlete on Egypt’s 160-strong delegation in Paris and is keen to represent her country the best way possible when she competes in the women’s 10m platform preliminaries on Monday.

“I just want to perform well, that’s the only goal I have right now. Because I can see my age and their age, and my experience and their experience. So, the only thing I really want is to perform well and actually look good,” Tawfik told The National ahead of the Games.

Egyptian diving is on the rise with four divers, Maha Amer, Mohamed Farouk, and Ramez Sobhy, representing the North African nation at Paris 2024.

Amer made history at the World Aquatic Championships in Doha earlier this year when she clinched bronze in the 1m springboard event, becoming the first Arab diver to win a medal at that stage.

Tawfik was poolside watching her compatriot and found the whole experience inspiring.

“It was great. I was really happy for her. I think she made the whole championship for us like 10 times better because she won,” said Tawfik of Amer, who will compete in the 3m springboard event in Paris on August 7.

“I had never seen an Egyptian diver on the podium before, so that definitely made us all feel that there is a bit of hope for all of us.”

Amer studied and competed in collegiate diving in the US and Tawfik hopes she can follow in her footsteps in order to develop her craft while pursuing a good education.

“That’s the only goal I have and to go to the LA Olympics. These are my ultimate goals,” she said.

Tawfik has been diving since she was five years old and got into it thanks to her older cousin Amina.

“She trained in diving and I wanted to do whatever she did, so that’s why I got into the sport. And after a couple of months, she left the sport and I stayed in it another 10 or more years,” said Tawfik.

At the national level, Tawfik competes in both platform and springboard events, and prefers the latter. As many divers would say, there is always a degree of trepidation when leaping off a 10-metre-high platform, but there is also a great deal of thrill involved.

“There is always a little bit of fear. Even if I do a dive 10 times or 20 times, there’s always a small part of me that’s scared,” Tawfik said.

The Olympics was always on her radar, but she never thought she’d make it there at such a young age.

“It was something that I dreamt of but not that soon. I thought maybe I’d be going to the 2028 Olympics in LA. I didn’t think I’d be going to the one in Paris at all, so it was kind of a surprise,” she added.

Before flying from Cairo to Paris, Tawfik said her mindset was to look forward to the Olympic experience as a whole, and not just focus on diving.

“Every time I think about the competition, I stress and get nervous. I want it to be like a small part of the Olympics, not the whole experience,” she explained.

To handle the occasion the best way she can, Tawfik is adopting an approach based on advice from her father, Elhussein.

“The power of now, that’s how I live my life, so I don’t get really nervous,” said Tawfik.

“If I’m sitting right here and thinking about the Olympics, so it’s like, no, you’re sitting right here, right now, don’t think about the future. When we get to the Olympics, then we’re going to stress, and then we’re going to control our stress, or our nerves there. And of course I do some mental training.”

Women’s 10m platform preliminaries will kick off at 12:00 UAE time on Monday, August 5.