KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — The National Sports Council (NSC) will hold an Asian Games Performance Review Workshop with relevant stakeholders on November 8 to prepare for upcoming international games.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the workshop will also involve Nippon Sport Science University experts.
“The same post-mortem workshop was held for the (2023) Cambodia SEA Games as well, to improve its existing programme,” she said during the Minister’s Question Time at today’s Dewan Rakyat session.
Yeoh was responding to Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong’s query on the achievements of Malaysian athletes in the recent 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the ministry’s plan for athletes’ preparation and sports development for upcoming international sports.
She said all Malaysian athletes had shown exceptional performance at the Hangzhou Asian Games in their events and that success was achieved due to prior preparations.
At the Games, the Malaysian contingent of 288 athletes successfully won six gold, eight silver, and 18 bronze medals.
“The total tally of 32 medals achieved the target set by the NSC and the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM),” Yeoh said.
Regarding the winnability of the athletes at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, she concluded that, among other factors, the success could be attributed to prior competition exposure and training, thanks to allocations from the NSC involving an expenditure of RM9.4 million.
It covered 119 competition exposures abroad and 41 training exposures that were given to athletes.
“Sports matching grants also played a role when we view karate especially, where competitions for this sport organised in Malaysia helped them elevate their calibre for the Asian Games.
“Finally, I give this factor of the winning psyche to the athletes because the athletes themselves recognise their own abilities … they become medal winners because they win in their minds first before they enter the court,” Yeoh said, adding the cooperation of sports associations is also a major factor for the athletes’ victory at the Hangzhou Games.
— Bernama
