Dr M fires up Asian Games athletes with glories from the past

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today recalled Malaysia's glory days as host of the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

In his speech at a function to hand over the Jalur Gemilang to Malaysia's Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games contingent, Mahathir urged the athletes gathered at Dataran Perdana in Putrajaya to channel the winning spirit of their predecessors.

"The spirit of our athletes at the time, among the gold medal winners were Sapok Biki (boxing), Hidayat Hamidon (weightlifting), Nurul Huda Bahrin (shooting) and G Saravanan (athletics).

"They were undivided in the quest to bring Malaysia to fame and place us in overall fourth place among competing nations," said Mahathir who earlier received the official Malaysian contingent jacket from Olympic medalist, track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang.

Mahathir, who stood alongside Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and his cabinet ministers, also noted that Malaysia's badminton ace Lee Chong Wei was unable to participate in this year's Asian Games.

"To Lee Chong Wei, I hope that he will recover soon.

"Although he can't represent the country at this upcoming competition, his spirit all this while will surely fire up our contingent to bring back greater success," said Mahathir who noted that Malaysia had placed among Top 10 countries at the last Asian Games in Incheon, Korea, in 2014.

Mahathir later handed over the Jalur Gemilang to Malaysia's Asian Games chef-de-mission Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi. Also present was Malaysian Olympic Council president Mohamad Norza Zakaria.

Speaking to reporters later, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the Malaysian contingent has set a target of seven gold medals at this year's competition.

"But if we are lucky, the gold medal haul can go to up to 11," he said.

He said among the events include cycling, karate, martial arts (silat) and bowling.

In the upcoming Jakarta Palembang Asian Games from Aug 18 to Sept 2, 426 Malaysian athletes will be competing in 35 out of 40 events, accompanied by 147 officers.

-Mkini