1. Congratulations to the Paris 2024 organisers for having staged the 33rd edition with resounding success.
2. Our gratitude is extended to the team managers, officials, members of the Secretariat comprising representatives from the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), the National Sports Council (NSC) and the National Sports Institute (NSI) and the secretariat based at the Malaysia House at the Hampton by Hilton at Clichy, for having facilitated the Chef de Mission and Deputy Chef de Mission, Datuk Nicol Ann David, in managing the daily affairs of the Contingent, without any major issues.
3. Our gratitude is also extended to Y.B. Hannah Yeoh, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Y.B. Adam Adli Abdul Halim, Deputy Minister of Sports and YBhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri (Dr) Mohamad Norza Zakaria, OCM President for their trust and unwavering support for the Malaysian Contingent.
4. The Contingent for Paris 2024 was represented by 26 athletes from 9 sports – Aquatics – Diving (2) and Aquatic Swimming (2), Archery (3), Athletics (1), Badminton (8), Cycling (Road – 1, Track 3), Golf (2), Sailing (2), Shooting (1) and Weightlifting (1).
5. Various issues – major or otherwise – were addressed in a collective manner by all parties in order to create an environment for the athletes to focus on their mission. For example the issue of food and beverage at the dining hall of the Games Village, which was duly addressed.
6. From the 26 athletes, 15 of them (58%) were making their debut at the Olympics, while 22 qualified on merit, 3 based on the universality slot or wild card and 1 on unused quota.
7. Compared to our Asean neighbours, Malaysia was paced third in terms of number of athletes, behind Thailand (52 athletes), Indonesia (29), followed by Malaysia, Singapore (23), and the Philippines (22).
8. Five of the 26 athletes were making their third or more Olympic appearance – Dato’ Mohd Azizulhasni Awang OLY (5), Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy OLY (4), Nur Dhabitah Sabri OLY (3), Gavin Kyle Green OLY (3) and Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif OLY (3).
9. The Malaysian Contingent clinched a medal haul of two bronzes, and ended up No 80 from 206 nations in Paris 2024.
10. At Continental level, Malaysia was placed 18th among 45 Asian nations competing in Paris.
11. At South East Asian level, Malaysia was placed fourth behind the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.
12. There were three national records set in Paris, by the following athletes:
(i) weightlifter Mohamad Aniq Bin Kasdan (61kg) in Snatch – 130kg (previous record 129 kg set by Muhamad Aznil Bidin) set by and Total – 297 kg (previous total 296kg)
(ii) Dato’ Azizulhasni OLY in Men’s Sprint (Qualifying) 9.402s (previous 9.532)
(iii) Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri in Women’s Sprint (Qualifying) in 10.709 (10.903).
13. There were five athletes who registered their personal bests, they are:
(i) Syaqiera Mashayikh (Archery)
(ii) Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom OLY (Cycling Track – Men’s Sprint)
(iii) Dato’ Mohd Azizulhasni OLY (Cycling Track – Men’s Sprint)
(iv) Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri (Cycling Track – Women’s Sprint)
(v) Mohamad Aniq Bin Kasdan (Weightlifting)
14. Shah Firdaus OLY sustained injuries after the crash as he made the cut to the final of the Men’s Keirin, an improvement from his quarterfinal appearance in Tokyo 2020.
15. Nurul Izzah can now be considered as an emerging force in Cycling Track based on her performance in the Women’s Sprint, where she became the first rider to make the cut to the first round.
16. Badminton remains the Contingent’s medal contributor, courtesy of Men’s Doubles specialists Aaron Chia Teng Fong OLY and Soh Wooi Yik OLY who scooped the bronze medal beating Denmark’s Kim Astrup/Anders Rasmussen in dramatic fashion.
17. Lee Zii Jia OLY clinched the bronze in Men’s Singles beating India’s Lakshya Sen over three games. Zii Jia OLY has improved his world rankings from 7th in April to 6th at present.
18. Pearly Tan Koong Le and Thinaah Muralitharan advanced to the semifinals of the Women’s Doubles, becoming the first to better Vivien Hoo-Woon Khe Wei’s quarterfinal appearance in Rio 2016. They were drawn in the group of death but emerged as runners-up of the group before defeating Korea’s world No 8, Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong in the quarterfinals. They succumbed to China’s world No 1 pair Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan. In the bronze medal play-off, the Malaysian pair lost to Japan’s world No 10, Chiharu Shida/Nami Matsuyama.
19. Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei showed glimpses of their true potential to become a strong and credible pair in future by qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Mixed Doubles before losing to Korea’s World No 6, Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun. The Malaysian pair are now No 9 in the world.
20. Aniq came within a whisker of creating history, losing by a mere kilogram to USA’s Hampton Morris, who became the first American to win an Olympic weightlifting medal since 1984. Morris is also the youngest American men’s weightlifting medallist since 1956. Morris took the bronze after clearing 298kg (126kg-172kg) while Thailand’s Theerapong Silachai won silver with 303kg (132kg-171kg). Defending champion Li Fabin (China) set a new Olympic record of 143kg in the snatch and 167kg in the clean and jerk for a 310kg total.
21. In Archery, Syaqiera registered a personal best with 663 points, in finishing 14th in the qualifiers out of 64 athletes. She lost to Brazil’s Ana Luiza Caetano in the 1/16 round after a shoot-off.
22. Despite her last-minute inclusion via the unused quota, Nur Dhabitah Sabri OLY demonstrated her determination by qualifying for the final, finishing 12th in the Women’s 3m Springboard.
23. Gavin Kyle Green OLY, concluded his campaign at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, finishing 33rd out of 58 golfers in the Men’s Individual event. Paris was his best Olympic performance, having finished 57th in Tokyo 2020 and 47th in Rio 2016.
24. A number of up-and-coming athletes have emerged with credit, while a few must be given the support and motivation to earn their places in Los Angeles 2028.
25. We should train our eyes on the likes of Aniq Kasdan (weightlifting), Bertrand Rhodict Lises (Aquatics – Diving), Tan Rouxin (Aquatics – Swimming), Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi and Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil (Archery), Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi (Athletics), Ashley Lau Jen Wen (Golf) and Nurul Izzah Izzati (Cycling – Track) in preparation for the next Olympic cycle.
26. On the quota or allocation of accreditation for officials and coaches, contrary to reports by certain sections of the media, Zii Jia OLY had his personal coach, Wong Tat Meng, in the Games Village while his support team including sparring partners were given P (training) passes and daily passes to access the player coach. With regard to Goh Jin Wei’s coach Nova Armada’s absence, it was agreed prior to the trip to Paris that he would be focusing on para badminton player, Cheah Liek Hou’s prospects in the Paralympic Games, while BA of Malaysia (BAM) director of coaching, Rexy Mainaky, was tasked to monitor the shuttler’s preparation throughout the Games. I must stress that the Contingent Secretariat headed by OCM as the Olympic body had given the necessary support in terms of allocation of the support services team for all athletes.
27. Last but not least, on behalf of the Malaysian Contingent, I wish to express my eternal gratitude to everyone, especially the Secretariat in the Games Village for working tirelessly behind the scenes in coordinating the movements and meeting the requests of the athletes and members of the delegation, the OCM, NSC, NSI and the various stakeholders including the Malaysian Embassy in Paris, the fans who came all the way from Kuala Lumpur and everyone connected to the sports industry for their support, encouraging words and co-operation to Datuk Nicol and myself in managing the Contingent.
DATUK HAMIDIN MOHD AMIN
Chef de Mission, Malaysian Contingent to Paris 2024
11 August, 2024.
