Rethinking Malaysia’s approach, as Olympic Games gold medal drought continues

Malaysia’s failure to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games was heartbreaking, but not unexpected despite the hundreds of millions of ringgit spent on sports over the years.

The reason is simple – 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.

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.

Lee, and Chia-Soh delivered the country’s two bronze medals.

Six other athletes who shone were Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah (women’s doubles), the badminton mixed pair of Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, cyclist Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, and weightlifter Mohamad Aniq Kasdan.

We are now left with four years to rectify this situation ahead of the Summer Games in Los Angeles, in the United States.

For the Paris Games, only 22 athletes qualified on merit. Four others – sprinter Muhammad Azeem Fahmi, and swimmers Khiew Hoe Yean, and Tan Rouxin received Universality slots, while diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri participated through an unused quota.

Azizulhasni is set to retire after competing in five Olympics but hinted that he still has it in him to continue until 2028, if his family allows him. He had promised them he would quit after Paris as he had had open heart surgery in 2022 due to a rare heart condition known as anomalous aortic origin of the right coronary artery.

We must look beyond Azizulhasni and ask what mistakes the sports administrators in the country have made.

MAKING THE GUARDIANS OF SPORTS ACCOUNTABLE

When a national contingent fails, brickbats are often levelled against the Youth and Sports Minister. But politicians come and go. And they are only interested in leaving so-called "legacies".

There will be those who will criticise the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), too.

NSC is forced to play a big role simply because the national sports associations (NSAs) struggle to raise funds. OCM, meanwhile, is the umbrella body of national sports associations and is seen as a “glorified tour agent” when it comes to participating in multi-sports events.

Yet, the NSAs seem to escape public scrutiny. Athletics and swimming offer the most medals at the Olympics, yet we only had three athletes in Paris competing in those events, all of whom didn’t qualify on merit. Why aren’t Malaysian Athletics Federation and Malaysia Swimming being hauled up for the lack of talent?

Football, despite the ridiculous amount of taxpayers’ money and attention spent on the sport, last qualified for the Olympics in 1980. Why is the sport still enjoying public funds when it has little to offer, even at the Southeast Asian level?

Those helming these associations – at the district, state, and national levels – should be held accountable.

DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN

The quote “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” is often wrongly credited to Albert Einstein, even though civil rights campaigner and feminist writer Rita Mae Brown wrote it in her 1983 book, ‘Sudden Death’.

We are insane if we expect different results when we go down the ‘Road’ towards the Olympics.

For instance, the Youth and Sports Ministry introduced the Road To Gold Programme that was supposed to be a top-up service for the Podium Programme. It is nothing new.

The Road to London (2012) was initiated by then Youth and Sports minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, followed by Road to Rio (2016) and Road to Tokyo (2020).

The only difference is that probably realising the odds of winning gold were slim in Paris, the Road To Gold Programme involves two Olympics cycles – 2024 and 2028.

Even then, OCM’s secretary-general Datuk Nazifuddin Najib said in July that the national athletes needed to win a gold in Paris to justify the government’s expenditure, although he also gave a caveat that the RTG programme would last until 2028.

In Budget 2024, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim gave RM72 million to strengthen the athlete podium event ecosystem and the Road to Gold initiatives.

The question now is, do we need the RTG?

One of the bronze medals at the Paris Olympics came from Lee, who is not part of RTG.

Also, if the RTG is to speed up the processes and cut red tape, then shouldn’t the decision-makers fix the processes to ensure more athletes can enjoy the benefits they deserve?

Perhaps we should look at other ways to help our athletes and cut the apron strings to make them independent.

MALAYSIAN ATHLETES LACK HUNGER?

Pakistan’s javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem received financial help from villagers and relatives, who pooled their resources to fund his training and travel when he started his career.

He recounted times when he didn’t have money to buy food. Months before the Paris Olympics, he used social media to appeal for help to buy a new javelin, as he didn’t get much government support. This, despite winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2022.

That social media push saw the government relent, and Arshad finally received some financial backing ahead of Paris. He was the only Pakistani athlete whose air ticket was sponsored by the government.

For all his sacrifice, Arshad is now a gold medallist and the Olympic Games record holder with a throw of 92.97m.

Two-time Olympics diving medallist Jack Laugher of Britain, rower Robbie Manson (New Zealand), pole vaulter Alysha Newman (Canada) and divers Timo Barthel (Germany), Diego Belleza Isaias (Mexico) and Matthew Mitcham (Australia) resorted to opening OnlyFans accounts to fund their athletic career.

Several American athletes, including women’s 200m track and field bronze medallist Brittany Brown, had to juggle two to three jobs to support their dreams of competing in Paris.

It is that desire to become champions that pushes these athletes.

Lee Zii Jia showed a desire to go it alone, rejected an offer to be part of RTG, and still won a bronze medal.

If Lee can do it, who is to say other Malaysians can’t? We should consider cutting the financial strings and let the athletes fend for themselves.

Only then should the government step in to help.