KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh is satisfied with the performance of the young athletes at the SEA Games in Cambodia, who managed to contribute gold medal for the country even though it was the first time they competed in the biennial Games.
Although there are some sports whose medal targets did not meet the predictions, she was still satisfied when sports such as silat, wushu, golf and karate performed unexpectedly by winning gold medals for the country beyond the target.
“So far we have seen silat, karate, wushu, golf and athletics as well as many sports perform outstandingly, we share the joy with the young athletes because most of them are making their debut (at the SEA Games).
“This is the nature of sports, it is competitive, sometimes we win and lose, but if we lose we will make sure what the factors of defeat are, we deal with it and help reduce the risk of defeat in the future,” Yeoh told reporters at the YSEALI Game Changers Regional Workshop earlier today.
In the meantime, she said the ministry will scrutinise the outstanding performance of athletes at the SEA Games for the allocation of funds to ensure the development and excellence of sports can continue.
“We will study the available data after everything is finished to find out more about the athletes who excel in a sport, is it due to coaches or overseas training, and to those who win, that sport we will put more funds for its development,” Yeoh said.
So far, the national contingent is in seventh position in the medal standings after collecting 21 gold, 22 silver and 42 bronze medals.
— Bernama
