KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria has confirmed that 18 national athletes from seven sports have qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics as of today.
He said that before the closing date at the end of June, OCM expects about 10 more athletes will qualify for the 33rd edition of the Olympics, which will take place from July 26 to August 11.
“Among what we expect is from archery for individual and team events, which will compete in the final qualifying tournament in Antalya, Turkiye, from June 14 to June 17.
“We also have a reallocation of unused quota in diving and universality places, better known as wildcards, for swimming and athletics.
“So we expect the contingent will be around 28,” Norza said during a press conference after the 209th OCM executive council meeting today.
According to the criteria set by World Archery, as many as three team event slots (9 athletes) and two individual event slots will be up for grabs for countries that have not yet qualified for the Olympics during the tournament in Antalya.
In addition, qualifications for the two highest-ranked teams in the world will be offered on June 24, and two wildcard tickets for individual events will also be determined on the same date.
The latest eight athletes to confirm their slots in the prestigious games are from the national badminton camp — men’s singles players Lee Zii Jia, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles), Pearly Tan-M Thinaah (women’s doubles), Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (mixed doubles), and Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles) — after the qualifying rankings closed yesterday.
However, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) is expected to issue its confirmation tomorrow.
Other athletes who will carry the nation’s challenge to the Olympics this time are track cyclists Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri, who will compete in the keirin and sprint events, as well as Nur Aisyah Mohd Zubir (highway cyclist).
They will be accompanied by Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy, Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif (both sailing), Mohamad Aniq Kasdan (weightlifting), Johnathan Wong (shooting), Ariana Nur Dania Mohd Zairi (archery), and Bertrand Rhodict Lises (diving).
Meanwhile, Norza said the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has postponed the Olympic Solidarity forum for the East and Southeast Asian Olympic Committees in Kuala Lumpur from early May to June 1 to June 2.
— Bernama
