‘Identify talents early on’

Sultan: Place emphasis on creating successful athletes

KLANG: Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah wants more emphasis on creating successful athletes.

“I urge the National Sports Council to be more focused on having athletes who are able to win gold in main events at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, such as athletics, swimming, cycling and equestrian,” said Sultan Sharafuddin.

Addressing a special function where he presented incentives to 98 athletes and nine coaches from Selangor for their excellent performances in the recently concluded SEA Games, the Sultan believes sports is the best catalyst to inculcate unity and harmony amongst the nation’s multi-racial community.

Sultan Sharafuddin said he hoped sports would continue to be made an important element in the social lives of the people without it being mixed up with politics and political interests.

The Ruler said he was proud of the achievements of the Selangorborn athletes, not only of their performances at the SEA Games but also their potential for the future.

“I believe this is all because of the efforts by the teachers and coaches in schools in identifying their talents and training them up to this level,” he said.

Sultan Sharafuddin said he hoped the Sports Council would continue training new talents from the time they were still in school.

A total RM540,000 was given out as incentives to the athletes and nine coaches.

Out of the athletes, 41 who won gold received RM5,000 for each medal, 29 who won silver received RM3,000 for each medal and 28 who won bronze received RM2,000 for each medal.

The coaches received RM5,000 each at Istana Alam Shah.

The Ruler said the medals won by the Selangor athletes were a significant contribution to Malaysia becoming the SEA Games champion.

He said the incentives given to the athletes and coaches were aimed at motivating them to perform better in future competitions.

“I am also certain all this could not have been achieved without the sporting facilities provided by the state government and the private sector,” said Sultan Sharafuddin.

He said the Selangor government had also invested a lot in providing high quality sporting infrastructure in ensuring athletes and the public were able to appreciate the development of sports at every level.

Also at the event were Tengku Permaisuri Selangor, Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin and Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

National diver Chew Yiwei, who won a gold in the springboard synchro and a silver for the platform dive, said the incentive was recognition of the efforts and sacrifices of athletes for the nation.

“I did not expect to get such an incentive and this is very supportive of athletes,” he said.