PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is not planning to boycott the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and will send a contingent, says youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh.
Several countries, including the US, Germany and Australia, have reportedly threatened to boycott the 2024 Olympics following the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in Paris.
Yeoh said the Road to Gold (RTG) committee had decided to send a contingent.
“I can’t comment on other countries but, like I said, we’ll just stick to what the RTG committee had decided,” she told a press conference here today.
She believed the national athletes would give their best in search of glory for Malaysia, which is still hunting for their first ever Olympics gold, Bernama reported.
On another matter, Yeoh said she would meet professional badminton player Lee Zii Jia tomorrow in a bid to help him solve his problems.
She said high public expectations had put Zii Jia under tremendous pressure and slammed the stream of negative press reports against the 25-year-old player, calling them “unhealthy”.
The world number four men’s singles player has been dogged by inconsistent performances recently.
Yeoh said professional athletes needed the support and understanding of all quarters as their needs vary, including under the RTG programme.
“They can just WhatsApp and tell us. There is no need for an official meeting because sometimes this can be a roadblock.
“This is the kind of open communication that we want to have with our athletes because at the end of the day, they are the ones entering the arena,” she said.
Apart from Zii Jia, five other representatives from badminton are listed for the RTG programme, namely men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik; national number one women’s pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah and three professional pairs — Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (mixed); Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (mixed) and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (men).
The other athletes under the RTG programme are track cycling ace Azizulhasni Awang and his teammate Shah Firdaus Sahrom, as well as divers Pandelela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri. - FMT
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