KUALA LUMPUR: There is no official list yet of track & field athletes that will compete at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April but high jumper Lee Hup Wei’s name is being mentioned as one who could represent the country at the Games.
Hup Wei’s success in recording a personal best of 2.28 meters while competing at the AACT track & field championship in Canberra, Australia last week has put the high jumper as a medal prospect in Gold Coast.
Commonwealth Games deputy chef de mission, Jefri Ngadirin said that at present, only athletics have not finalised the list of athletes for the Games. However this could be known in the very near future with chief coach Zainal Abas scheduled to meet Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) to decide on the list of athletes at the end of next week.
“All sports have their list of athletes selected to represent the country at the Games except for athletics. Perhaps there could be changes or perhaps not. So I cannot reveal who are the athletes that will be heading to the Gold Coast.
“But Hup Wei’s success does enable him to be re-enlisted in the Malaysian contingent,” he said. Jefri stressed that OCM have to go through the list of athletes very carefully following rules and regulations issued by the organisers which allows Malaysia to list 98 athletes who do not meet the qualifying criteria.
Hup Wei’s jump of 2.28 meters in Canberra betters his previous best of 2.27 meters set at the 2010 Asia Grand Prix in Chennai, India. The achievement also allows Hup Wei to take top spot in the IAAF rankings for the 2018 season.
Meanwhile as for Hup Wei’s coach, Alex Stewart, the success of his disciple in winning gold while recording a personal best proves that the Selangor born athlete is on the right track to be selected for the Commonwealth Games.
For the record, the gold medal winner at the Commonwealth Games four years ago in Glasgow for the high jump event was Canada’s Derek Drouin who won with a jump of 2.31 meters.