BUTTERWORTH, June 10 — The Road to Gold (RTG) committee will meet next week to discuss and review the needs of the country’s athletes to ensure Malaysia’s chances of winning its first-ever gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games remain bright, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said.

Following concerns and dissatisfaction raised by national track cycling ace Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang towards the National Sports Council (NSC) for failing to provide a complete support system in preparation for Paris, she said the ministry is taking the requests of national athletes seriously.

"The RTG committee will meet next week to review each request of the athletes selected for the RTG programme.

"I have contacted Azizul through our coordinator Datuk Stuart Ramalingam and we will do our best for our athletes to ensure Malaysia’s chances of winning the gold medal are bright,” she told reporters after officiating the Malaysia Aktif@Komuniti programme at PPR Taman Bagan Jaya here today.

On today’s programme, Hannah said it was a new initiative by the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) through the National Youth and Sports Department (JBSN) and with the support of the Local Government Development Ministry (KPKT).

It is aimed at promoting a sporting culture among the people, specifically in People’s Housing Programme (PPR) communities and Public Housing Projects (PPA), she added.

With aerobics and zumba among the activities featured, she said the programme’s objective is to promote an active and healthy lifestyle among the community in addition to strengthening community unity, harmony and well-being.

"For this first phase, this zumba programme will run every Saturday or Sunday for 30 weeks in two selected PPRs involving six states, namely Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.

"The cost of the trainers will be paid by KBS for 30 weeks, which is until December 2023 with a total participation target of 36,000 people,” Hannah said, adding that the second phase of the programme would involve Kuala Lumpur, Sabah and Sarawak. — Bernama