KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — A luxurious serviced apartment worth RM1 million in Setia Alam awaits the national athlete who wins Malaysia’s first ever Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, from July 26 to August 11.

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the Road To Gold (RTG) committee received the offer from property developer Top Residency, which is interested in rewarding the country’s first Olympic gold medallist.

"Olympic gold is a (source of) pride for Malaysia. We want to encourage the private sector and also Malaysians to support them.

"We believe sports is a unifying tool for Malaysia. So, this is the platform we give to the private sector to play their role in rewarding the athlete when bringing back gold,” she said in a press conference announcing the sponsorship incentives for the 2024 Paris Olympics here today.

She also announced a personal sponsorship worth a total of RM1 million from Senheng Executive Chairman Lim Kim Heng to be shared between men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and mixed doubles player Chen Tang Jie if they manage to bag the elusive gold medal in their respective events.

The three shuttlers were part of the SS Senheng Badminton Talent programme from 2012 to 2016.

"There are more sponsors coming in and they have already contacted the RTG committee. So, for now they are sorting legal documents obviously to make sure the commitment is right and clear,” Hannah added.

The latest incentives would be on top of RM1 million reward for Olympic gold medallists under the National Sports Incentive Scheme (Shakam), while silver and bronze medallists will be entitled to RM300,000 and RM100,000 rewards respectively.

Chery Malaysia announced last month that any athlete winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics would receive a Tiggo 8 Pro sports utility vehicle (SUV), while silver medallists would receive an Omoda E5 and bronze medallists would get a a Tiggo 7 Pro each.

Meanwhile, Hannah expressed her hope that national sports associations would request Olympic accreditations only for those who really deserve to be in Paris.

"The accreditations are given by the OCM (Olympic Council of Malaysia). For ISN (National Sports Institute) and NSC (National Sports Council), only duty officials are going. I feel for other passes, the national sports associations need to decide who should go to help and support respected athletes.

"What’s most important is supporting our athletes, That should be a priority,” she added. — Bernama