KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — As the world turns its eyes to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, Malaysia is set to make a splash with a fresh wave of athletic talent, with 14 debutant Olympians who have earned their spots to represent the country on the global stage.
These newcomers to the Olympic arena embody Malaysia’s commitment to nurturing excellence in sports and signal a promising future for the nation’s athletic ambitions.
As several of these athletes shared with the Malay Mail in recent interviews, their qualification not only marks a personal triumph for each athlete but also raises the bar for Malaysian sports, paving the way for future Malaysian Olympians to dream bigger and aim higher.
Only top 10 ranked athletes in the Olympic qualifiers automatically secure a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to August 11.
The 15 debutants will be competing in eight sporting events — diving, archery, sprinting, swimming, badminton, golf, cycling and weightlifting.
Diving
Bertrand Rhodict Lises, 19, will be competing in the men’s 10-metre platform diving event. His achievements in the run-up to the Summer Olympics, include a bronze medal in the Cambodia SEA Games last year, and finishing 10th in the 20th edition of the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan the same year.
The latter achievement earned him a spot to compete in the Olympics. He is currently ranked 10th in the world and fourth in Asia for the individual platform category.
Swimming
Swimmers Steve Khiew Hoe Yean and Tan Ruoxin will compete in the men’s 400m freestyle and women’s 100m breaststroke categories respectively in Paris.
Khiew made waves this year with a double winning streak at the Singapore National Swimming Championships, in both the 400m and 800m freestyle events.
He previously emerged fourth at the Australia National Championships in the men’s 400m freestyle category and sixth in the 800m category.
Tan also won gold in the Malaysia Open Swimming Championships in the individual medley (IM) event for the 200m event and a bronze in the 100m breaststroke category and also bagged a bronze medal for the IM category in the Singapore National Swimming Championships.
Archery
National recurve archers Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi and Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil will be competing alongside Tokyo Olympian Syaqiera Mashayikh, in Paris.
Ariana had last year, through the women’s individual recurve event at the Asian Qualification Zone in Bangkok, Thailand, secured a spot for the Paris Olympics. Apart from the team event, she will also be contesting in the individual recurve category.
The Malaysian women’s archery team will be contesting in the Olympics, after over six decades.
The group recurve team is currently ranked 19th globally and fourth in Asia.
Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi, meanwhile, will be competing in the men’s 100 metre sprinting event. He had in 2022 bagged the bronze medal in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, and emerged fifth in the Asian Athletics Championship last year.
Muhammad Azeem is in the top 100 in the world for the 100m category and 13th in Asia for the same.
Badminton
National shuttlers Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, the ninth-ranked pair globally, will be battling it out in the mixed doubles category.
The duo who was paired in 2022, won gold in the Taipei Open last year and silver in the Swiss Open this year. The duo also won the 2023 Orleans Masters.
Goh Jin Wei who is ranked 33rd in the world and 27th in Asia, meanwhile, will be competing in the individual women’s category.
Goh had in 2018, won the gold medal in the Youth Olympic Games.
No newbie to fame, Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah will also be competing in Paris, in the women’s doubles category.
The rising stars, presently ranked 13th in the world and in Asia for the women’s doubles category, have over the years captured the hearts of Malaysians with their impressive team performance. In 2022, the duo won gold in the Commonwealth Games.
Golf
Sarawak native Ashley Lau will be competing in the women’s golf category in Paris, after being ranked 50th by the Olympic Golf Ranking (OGR) for the women’s category.
This was announced by the International Golf Federation after a two-year qualification period, according to golfing website, ParGolf.
Lau is reportedly the first Sarawakian woman to have qualified for the Olympics for golf, and will be tee-ing off alongside former Olympian, Gavin Kyle Gabriel Green. Both will compete in the stroke play event.
According to ParGolf, since golf’s return to the Olympic roster in 2016, three other Malaysians who have played in the competition are Kelly Tan (Rio Olympics 2016 and Tokyo Olympics 2020), Michelle Koh (Rio Olympics 2016) and Danny Chia (Rio Olympics 2016).
Cycling
Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri and Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir will be representing Malaysia in cycling, together with heavyweights, ‘Pocket Rocketman’ Datuk Muhammad Azizulhasni Awang and Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, both of whom are former Olympians.
Izzah will be competing in two categories; keirin and sprint, while national road cyclist Nur Aisyah will be competing in the women’s road cycling category.
Nurul Izzah is currently ranked number two in Asia in the sprint and keirin categories, while Nur Aisyah is ranked sixth in road cycling.
Weightlifting
Given his impressive track record of lifting several times his own weight, it’s clear that 22-year-old Mohamad Aniq Kasdan is poised to make a significant impact in Paris.
He secured his spot for the 2024 Summer Olympics by finishing eighth in the men’s 61 kg category at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, this March.
Mohamad Aniq is currently ranked ninth in the world and eight in Asia, for the abovementioned category.
