KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports minister Hannah Yeoh thanked track cyclist Shah Firdaus Sahrom after his performance at the Paris Olympics.
"Thank you, Shah Firdaus, for fighting to the very end for Malaysia. You entered the finals, which is a good improvement compared to the previous Olympic games. Thank you, Shah, for giving your all!", she wrote in a Facebook post.
This was only hours after Shah's tragic crash involving Great Britain's Jack Carlin and Japan's Shinji Nakano during the final lap of the men's keirin final.
The heavy crash stalled Shah's performance, which was Malaysia's last hope for gold in the sport after cycling ace Azizulhasni Awang was disqualified in his first round heat after overtaking the derny before it left the track.
Malaysian netizens have criticized Shinji for allegedly causing the crash, as Shah was making a move on the outside of the Japanese cyclist, before both riders collided and also took out Carlin.
However, the commissaire deemed Shah Firdaus to be at fault for the collision for "moving inside of the track when an opponent was already there".