KUALA LUMPUR − The target of three gold medals of the Malaysian contingent to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games is not affected despite changes in the top leadership of the government, said Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) president, Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin.
He stressed that there is no political interference in sports and the practice should continue apart from clarifying that the target announced by the previous Youth and Sports Minister was based on the level of performance of the country’s athletes and the target is realistic.
However, as the head of the contingent to the Games, he would not be surprised if Malaysia surpasses the target set as the national contingent has its own strength in several sports in competition.
“In terms of the change of the top leadership in which there is no minister now, all are in place, and we have the same determination. We believe with the total (three gold medals) and InsyaAllah, we will be able to get or even more and that will be a bonus.
“But I do not want to be overconfident or put pressure on the athletes, but we are focused on the potential sports, other than that we want them to also to go beyond what they can do,” he told a media conference after launching the ‘WeThe15 - The Malaysian Way’ campaign online today.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) earlier announced the three-gold medal target for the Malaysian contingent, which was the same achieved in the 2016 edition in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
At the same time, Megat D Shahriman reminded athletes to be ready to comply with more stringent standard operating procedures (SOP) in Tokyo as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
He said he was optimistic the tighter SOP implementation would give greater impact to athletes after they carried out preparations and conduct training under a sports bubble.
“They (athletes) are all ready and we have given the SOP and they would comply. They just want to compete, they want to play, they want to cycle their heart out. This is what we want,” he explained.
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, which is scheduled to be held from Aug 24 to Sept 5, will witness 22 national athletes taking their challenges in nine types of sports involving 32 overall events.
In this regard, Megat D Shahriman who launched the ‘WeThe15 - The Malaysian Way’ campaign said the campaign was a long-term initiative to uplift people with disabilities around the world.
He said, as a sign of support, MPM also participated in representing Malaysia through ‘WeThe15 - The Malaysian Way’, which has the objective to fight for the fate of the disabled registered in the country.
He said as a sign of support and to draw public attention to the campaign, Menara Kuala Lumpur (Menara KL) would be illuminated with purple lights starting at 8 pm as symbolic of the launch of the campaign, which was held simultaneously throughout the country today. – Bernama, August 19, 2021
