Malaysia’s failure to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics has ignited discussions regarding the nation’s approach to sports, and its long-term development.
Some blame the government for the failure, but the rightful guardians – the respective national sports associations have escaped scrutiny.
Speaking to BFM radio this morning, Twentytwo13 editor Haresh Deol questioned why no one is asking the hard questions to the respective national sports associations.
“The guardians of the sport are the national sports associations, yet we don’t hear any conversations or any public scrutiny about their role,” he said.
“Take athletics and swimming, for example. They have the most events in the Olympics, yet only three of our athletes were in Paris, one for athletics, and two for swimming.
“All three didn’t qualify on merit and had to rely on wildcards to compete.”
The three are sprinter Muhammad Azeem Fahmi, and swimmers Khiew Hoe Yean and Tan Rouxin, who received Universality Places.
Azeem was last in his 100m heat and failed to advance to the semifinals.
Khiew competed in the men’s 400m freestyle event and placed 27th out of 37 swimmers. Tan won her women’s 100m breaststroke heat, but her time was only 33rd fastest. The top 16 swimmers in both categories qualified for the semifinals.
Haresh said Malaysia has no right to demand gold at the Olympics if sports aren’t a priority in schools.
“Take a step back and ask yourself, do we take sports seriously in schools? Do we take sports seriously in our community? Are we a sporting nation?
“If we don’t have answers to those questions, who are we to demand a gold medal?” said Haresh.
Hosts Wong Shou Ning, Shazana Mokhtar, and Keith Kam also asked Haresh what else could the government do.
“The government can help by insisting that sports be taken seriously in schools,” said Haresh.
“For that to happen, we need the Youth and Sports Minister to talk to the Education Minister, and the Higher Education Minister, and for them to ensure that there are programmes across the board.
“Our school system has evolved significantly. It now includes private schools, international schools, and home-schooling, unlike 20 to 30 years ago, when children mostly attended public schools.”
Haresh raised the issue because there may be talented athletes in private, international schools, or even home-schooled, who may not be identified.
“Who is monitoring these athletes? Where are they training? How are they training? How are they being identified? Because the talent identification system is now very much focused on public schools,” said Haresh.
This morning, Twentytwo13 reported that Malaysia’s failure to win an Olympic gold in Paris 2024 highlighted systemic issues. The small pool of talent and outdated sports administration are major concerns. There is a need for fresh leadership, strategic changes, and a review of funding.
Malaysia could only rely on a handful of athletes like cyclist Datuk Azizulhasni Awang, and shuttlers Lee Zii Jia, and men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to return from the French capital with podium finishes.
Lee, and Chia-Soh delivered the country’s two bronze medals after Azizulhasni, unfortunately, made a mistake in the Keirin after being disqualified for overtaking the derny before it left the track during his first-round heat. It was the same event in which he won a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics, and silver, in the following edition in Tokyo.
Kam then asked about the Road To Gold programme, which received RM20 million in funding. He also said 13 of the 26 athletes who competed in Paris were not part of the programme.
“It’s been drilled into our heads that the Road to Gold is merely a top-up service (to the Podium Programme),” said Haresh.
“At the same time, it has been stressed repeatedly that it is to fast-track certain things in sports.
“Now my question to that would be, if there is red tape and bureaucratic processes, shouldn’t we fix those problems instead of coming up with something new altogether?”
He added that when Malaysians talk about the Olympics, the focus should not just be on the upcoming edition.
“We should rightly be talking two, or three, Olympic Games cycles ahead. There should be a strategy to identify which sports can deliver so that there will be some form of continuity,” said Haresh.
Asked if the one-gold target for Paris was acceptable, Haresh said: “I don’t know whether to call it an illusion or a delusion. No disrespect to our athletes, but our performances have gone down.
“We won four silver and one bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Five years later, at the Tokyo Games, we won one silver, and one bronze medal.”
Looking ahead to the Los Angeles Games in 2028, Haresh said he is more optimistic than he was for Paris, as squash will finally debut at the Olympics.
“The Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia has done a fantastic job and has the potential to win a medal. But, four years is a long time. Anything can happen.”
