KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — Stuart Ramalingam and Michelle Chai have been appointed as coordinators of the Road to Gold (RTG) project to assist the RTG committee to identify the needs of athletes to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
RTG committee joint chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said Stuart and Chai will help any athlete involved meet the criteria of qualifying for the Olympics and, as such, become a prospect of winning a medal at the prestigious multi-sports Games.
“They (the two coordinators) are to help the athletes expedite their (Olympic) qualifying process. However, we will judge on two criteria, which are medal winners at previous Olympic Games and athletes ranked in the top 10.
“That is why we at the committee level did not announce the name list of athletes (to the Olympics yesterday) so as to give some space for the secretariat and coordinators to identify the athletes and then present them to the (supreme) committee for us to scrutinise and approve,” he said.
Mohamad Norza was speaking to reporters at the handing over of sponsorship from Matrix Concepts to national women’s singles shuttler S. Kisona at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM), here, today.
Stuart is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Malaysian Football League (MFL) while Michelle is the CEO of ABM.
Mohamad Norza, who is also Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president, said the assistance to be provided to the athletes will focus on, among others, sports science, preparation of elite athletes that also covers daily training, mental preparation, exposure to competitions and provision of coaching services.
He said Stuart and Michell will also create a detailed profile of the athletes listed for the Olympics to identify the needs of the athletes involved.
Nnational men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia, who is now ranked fourth in the world, track cycling ace Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and diving queen Datuk Pandelela Rinong Pamg are almost certain to be included in the RTG project.
Meanwhile, the OCM and National Sports Council (NSC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Nippon Sports Science University of Japan to open opportunities for sharing knowledge and expertise related to sports science technology and physical education as one way to help the RTG project athletes.
Mohamad Norza said the RTG committee is scheduled to go to Japan in April to identify opportunities for collaboration with the university in Malaysia’s efforts to win medals at the 2024 Olympic Games.
— Bernama
