KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — The term "golden boy” or "golden girl” does not exist in the Road To Gold (RTG) programme that has been set up to help win the country’s first Olympic gold medal in Paris next year, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.

She stressed that all athletes under the programme would receive the same treatment as their mission is to deliver the first gold medal at the prestigious quadrennial Games.

"We do not have any golden boy or golden girl in the RTG programme, every athlete is considered to be so. We give the same RM3,000 monthly allowance to all athletes under this programme.

"The NSI’s (National Sports Institute) services are also provided to everyone to ensure they all have a chance to succeed,” she told reporters after the RTG meeting, here, today.

Hannah said this when asked about the RTG committee’s decision to retain men’s singles professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia in the programme although he is no longer ranked among the world’s top 10 after some lacklustre performances of late.

Zii Jia recently decided to take a temporary break from competitions to regain his motivation after a dip in his performance.

RTG coordinator Datuk Stuart Ramalingam said the decision to retain the world number 11 shuttler was made after taking into consideration the Olympic qualifying points and technical recommendation based on the Road to Paris ranking.

Stuart said the RTG has also accepted proposals to include another singles shuttler, Ng Tze Yong, and mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei into the programme based on their achievements in the latest tournaments they took part in.

As for the mixed doubles pair of Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who are currently ranked 18th in the world, Stuart said they would be given until September to prove their worth.

Meanwhile, Stuart also confirmed that the national men’s hockey team is the latest to be included in the RTG programme as they prepare for the 2023 Asian Games in September.

"Hockey will receive the support they need to compete in the Asian Games, which will be a platform to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics,” he said. — Bernama