A need for more quality in top sports, not just quantity in medals

MALAYSIA have met their gold target at the SEA Games but it will be scant consolation. We can only look on with envy as the little red dot down south looks set for a top three finish in the overall medals tally.

Almost half of Singapore’s total gold medal haul – they are on the verge of hitting 50 – came from their super fast swimmers and this is something Malaysia needs to look at.

We were not only poor in swimming but also in the athletics track events, once a Malaysian forte.

Athletics and swimming combined offer a total of 87 gold medals at the SEA Games.

This does not include medals offered in the other aquatic disciplines like diving, synchronized swimming and open water swimming.

Doing well in both athletics and swimming are crucial for any nation that wants to do well at a multi Games.

Singapore have been dominant at the pool for more than two decades now. In Manila (2019), they grabbed 23 gold medals, which is more than half of their total medal haul in all sports.

And in the ongoing Games, Singapore will return with their best ever athletics haul in more than 20 years of one gold, three silvers and seven bronzes.

In Hanoi this time, Malaysia managed a measly haul of just one gold medal from swimming and five in athletics, all from field events.

Even then, we lost the men’s high jump gold for only the second time since 1977, with Nauraj Singh settling for silver.

It is a wonder why Malaysia cannot be competitive in these sports when we boast of state-of-the-art facilities apart from financial support from the National Sports Council (NSC) and also scientific support from the National Sports Institute (NSI).

Malaysia should be doing much better. Maybe it is better for the country to look at how Vietnam have turned themselves from bystanders to powerhouses in athletics and swimming.

Vietnam only managed three gold medals in athletics and none in swimming when Malaysia became overall champions in the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Then, they finished a strong second with eight golds behind Thailand (13 golds) in athletics when they hosted the last SEA Games in Hanoi.

It is interesting to note that Vietnam did not win any gold medal in swimming at that time. They have won 10 in the pool almost two decades later.

In athletics this time, Vietnam dislodged Thailand as the powerhouse with 22 gold medals. The Thais managed 12 golds to take second place.

Our sports administrators have to ponder over the dilemma as we plan to host the 2027 SEA Games in five years’ time.

But I believe decision makers are more likely to take the easy way out by adding additional events or disciplines in the sports that we are good at like squash, rhythmic gymnastics, track cycling and hockey to ensure we rake in the medals.

Sadly, that will be a case of quantity over quality. And that’s not going to make us a sport powerhouse.