KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) will focus on nurturing new talent in four Olympic sports starting next year.
Minister Hannah Yeoh named these sports as weightlifting, archery, taekwondo, and shooting.
“We believe these sports require an injection of funds, so we requested it from the Ministry of Finance.
“They have allocated nearly RM1 million for each sport to develop new talent and expand the talent pool,” she said after a post-evaluation session of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games yesterday.
The four sports have yet to contribute a medal for Malaysia in the Olympics.
Additionally, Hannah highlighted the need to identify new talent in cycling and hopes to see more female divers representing the country in the future.
“There is no new talent in diving especially. So we need to fill the gap to avoid relying on just a few athletes to deliver,” she said.
Currently, Datuk Pandelela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri are the only female divers in the national squad who have competed in the Olympics.
Pandelela remains Malaysia’s most successful diver, having won two Olympic medals in the London 2012 and Rio 2016 editions.
Hannah also stated that talent scouting for para-athletes was discussed at the post-evaluation, particularly in athletics and cycling.
“We understand that we are still struggling to find a successor for Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli (men’s shot put F20)... In para-cycling, their coach highlighted that talent development is challenging and requires extensive work since it takes seven years to prepare athletes,” she explained.
