Minister apologises to M'sians for Paris Olympics performance

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has apologised to all Malaysians after the national contingent failed to bring back the country’s first gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

She said the Road To Gold (RTG) programme was not a failure but has yet to succeed as it was a long-term plan implemented for two Olympic Games - Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028.

“So, we haven’t succeeded yet in winning the first gold medal and, as I said, our stakeholders in RTG are athletes and coaches as this (RTG) is the ‘top service’ for them to boost their chances in winning the gold medal,” she said at a media conference after arriving with the cycling squad at KLIA yesterday.

Yeoh, who is also the RTG co-chairperson, said the programme boosted the performance of several athletes including cyclists Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri, and weightlifter Mohamad Aniq Kasdan - who broke national records at the Olympics - while several others set new personal bests.

She added that the RTG committee will meet and receive technical reports from all teams to assess the athletes’ performance and to prepare an audited report on the programme’s expenditure.

Yeoh added that they would require some time to do so due to the 2024 Malaysia Games on Aug 17 and the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games on Aug 28.

Malaysia won two bronze medals at the recently concluded Paris Olympics through national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Sik and national men’s singles champion Lee Zii Jia.

- Bernama

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