Giving out incentives and rewards to national heroes is the right move towards the development of the nation's sports as it can boost the fighting spirit of athletes.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) patron Rosmah Mansor said incentives were effective especially for young athletes who had just begun to represent the country at international level.

"I have seen all the matches of our country, they had played well with full commitment. From that, we can see their desire to win," she told reporters after attending a gathering of Rio Olympic badminton players hosted by Celcom Axiata Berhad at the Axiata Tower in Kuala Lumpur today.

Rosmah said she had discussed with national badminton players who pledged to win a gold medal in the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in 2020.

The wife of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said she also advised national athletes to not take shortcuts in their pursuit to become champions, but instead work hard and make sacrifices to achieve their objectives.

"Apart from being determined to win, you should also train properly, maintain discipline, follow instructions of coaches, eat and sleep well with sufficient rest.

"This is what it takes to be a champion... you have to let go a lot of the things which are not very good for you, you have to sacrifice," she said.

Earlier she witnessed the presentation of mock cheques by Celcom chief executive officer Michael Kuehner (BAM's main sponsor), to eight national badminton players who had represented the country in the Rio Olympics.

The five silver medalists present were men's singles player Lee Chong Wei, men's doubles pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong and mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying and each received RM30,000 comprising RM20,000 cash and RM10,000 Celcom credit.

Meanwhile, women's singles player Tee Jing Yi and women's doubles pair Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei received RM20,000 each as incentive (RM10,000 cash and RM10,000 Celcom credit).

- Bernama