Podium athletes fall short at C’wealth Games, Asiad
KUALA LUMPUR: There’s no denying that this has been a hectic year for Malaysian sports. Apart from the yearly local and international championships and tournaments, Malaysian athletes also took part in two major multisports Games – Commonwealth and Asian. So, how did they fare?
Looking at the overall picture, it has to be said that the national athletes came up a bit short. However, let’s not take anything away from their achievements in terms of medals and records.
The overall observation is based on the fact that they failed to deliver the goods at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia and the JakartaPalembang Asiad.
Those two Games were the athletes’ battleground. It was their chance to prove that all the money invested in them through the various training programmes had been worth it. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out that way as they failed to meet either the two targets set for them – gold medal and overall standings.
This is despite there being a slight improvement in their performances compared to previous years. The then Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had chal lenged athletes to the Commonwealth Games under the Podium Programme to finish among the top-10 in the medal standings and return with more gold medals than in Glasgow in 2014.
In Glasgow, Malaysia finished 12th in the medal standings with six golds, seven silvers and six bronzes. But in Gold Coast, Malaysia, led by chef de mission Huang Ying how, remained in 12th spot with a 7- 5-12 haul.
The national contingent were again set the same target – be in the top-10 of the medal standings, at the Asian Games.
This time the call came from none other than Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the Jalur Gemilang handing- over ceremony on Aug 10.
He said it was not impossible for Malaysia to repeat the feat achieved at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in 2010 when the contingent returned with a haul of 9-18-14. Instead the contingent, this time led by chef de mission Datuk Seri Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi, could only bring back seven golds, 13 silvers and 16 bronzes.
Still, it was an improvement compared to the Asiad in Incheon, South Korea four years ago when Malaysia had a haul of 5-14-14.
Youth and Sports Minister Sye d S addiq Sye d Abdul Rahman, clearly dissatisfied, announced a restructuring of the athletes’ training programmes.
The Podium P r o g r amme , drawn up in 2016 by the ministry to realise the nation’s dream of a first gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well as to be among the top- 10 countries in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games this year, would undergo holistic restructuring under the National Sports Council ( NSC) next year. The new programme, using a tiered- system approach, is expected to make athlete selection and programme implementat ion more efficient as well as make it easier to set targets. Despite the below- par performances at the two major Games, there was still much to celebrate in the sports arena. For a start, there was the superhuman efforts of our para athletes. The s e ‘ ext r aor d inar y athletes’ made the country proud when they ended the third edition of the Asian Para Games in Jakarta with 17 golds, 26 s i lve r s and 2 5 bronzes to finish eighth overa l l , making it their bestever achievement since their haul of 15-20-27 in Incheon in 2014.
Then, there was our youngsters, who contributed two golds and one silver at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Buenos Aires (Oct 6-18).
Seventeen-year- old girls’ singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei became the first athlete to win a gold for Malaysia at the YOG. The Penangite later turned on the style to win the World Junior Championships in Canada for the second time since her 2015 triumph.
The national 5s boys’ hockey team delivered the second YOG gold medal after defeating India 4-2 in the final before rhythmic gymnast Rayna Hoh Khai Ling bagged a silver medal in the mixed team event.
Apart from the action overseas, the Malaysia Games ( Sukma) and Para Sukma in Perak also garnered quite a following. There has been a rise in the overall quality of performances at this year’s Sukma, which is open to athletes aged between 16 and 21.
National Sports Council ( NSC) director- general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said this could be seen from the balanced distribution of the medals, with no one state having a clear edge. — Bernama centre as a 14-year- old, then I started to think about what I would like to be... a badminton player, I just wanted to be the best in the world.
“Maybe I cannot explain in words, it’s impossible to explain. I had to put in so much effort to make my dream come true... I had to make so many sacrifices. It was really really difficult.”