Datuk Pandelela Rinong Pamg has been a household name for over a decade, but she is beginning to make plans for a future after sports.
The diving queen from Malaysia, though, has no immediate plans for retirement as she hopes to qualify for her fifth Olympics in Paris in 2024.
Earlier today, the Sarawakian dipped her toes in the non-fungible token (NFT) pool with the launch of her ‘P.Zero1’ collectable.
Intrigued by the evolving NFT industry globally, Pandelela decided to work with digital artists Nicholas Chuan to create a line of digital artwork of her professional and personal journey as an athlete.
Although it is just one NFT, Pandelela hopes to release more NFTs in the future and perhaps one day create her own collectable.
“I got an A for art (SPM), so I am toying with creating an NFT of my own. But I am fully focused on diving now,” said Pandelela, who owns an NFT – Squishy – that was gifted to her by a friend.
“While I may be relatively good in art, it is different to creating an NFT. I need to do more research on cryptocurrencies and understand how to make money out of it.”
Pandelela, born in Bau, a small town about 35km from Sarawak’s capital, Kuching, said if and when she creates an NFT, it would be something personal.
“I would want to pay homage to my ethnicity, my state and something related to me like my spirituality as those are meaningful to me,” said the two-time Olympic medallist.
“People will know that the NFT represents me.”
She added, that owning NFTs is also a way for people to declutter their lives.
“I have stuff everywhere. People are trying to be more minimalistic. Owning an NFT gives you something valuable, but you keep it in cyberspace,” she added.
Asked why she chose ‘P.Zero1’ as the name of her collectable, Pandelela explained: “My vision for ‘P.Zero1’ was to share a piece of my story with the world and to pay homage to the sport which has drastically changed my life from a young Bidayuh village girl to an internationally recognised sportswoman.
“P is for my name. The adage ‘Zero to One’ reflects my journey from being a nobody to someone who has created records as a diver from Malaysia.
“It is an exciting phase for me. It challenges me to learn and try new things.”
Pandelela is the second athlete who release NFT collectables with Prime Sports NFT – an NFT division under Prime Sports International (PSI).
In June, former national striker Safee Sali released his collectables, entitled ‘Sepuluh’ after his jersey number.
Those interested in buying Pandelela’s ‘P.Zero1’ NFT can bid for it on OpenSea from now until Aug 31. The starting bid is RM2,000.
The winner would unlock exciting benefits, including a unique personalised experience with Pandelela and a framed printout of ‘P.Zero1’ handed to the NFT owner by the athlete herself.
Meanwhile, PSI founder Yong-Chul Yun said the company is working on getting another eight athletes, including those from the national badminton team, to launch their NFTs.
