PUTRAJAYA: The list of Road to Gold (RTG) athletes was finally revealed by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh here today.
As expected, badminton dominated the list with 11 athletes, with two each from cycling and diving.
The RTG committee sees the 15 as Malaysia's best prospects to deliver the country's first Olympic gold medal at next year's Paris Games.
The RTG committee will review their performances periodically to ensure they are on track to win an Olympic title.
More athletes could go under RTG when the Olympic qualifying period starts pending review.
Yeoh said the first RTG committee meeting on Thursday had identified two main criteria for the potential athletes in the programme — Tokyo Olympic medallists and in the world's top 10 in their sports.
Those in the programme are Azizulhasni Awang and Shah Firdaus Sahrom (track cycling); Lee Zii Jia, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai (badminton); Pandelela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri (diving).
The RTG secretariat also roped in Olympian Josiah Ng and former National Sports Institute chief Datuk Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz as the technical advisors to programme coordinator Stuart Ramalingam.
Yeoh said RTG would be tasked to remove roadblocks and obstacles, if any, for athletes to take their performances to the next level.
"We will also consider new athletes to go under RTG if they qualify for the Paris Games," said Yeoh after the RTG press conference here today.
"We will monitor all potential Olympians, and we have three excellent coordinators in Datuk Nicol David, Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Datuk Mirnawan Nawawi to assist us."
"They will meet with RTG athletes and potential ones, including their trainers and coaches, to get feedback on their needs. It is also to get their agreement to commit to the programme."
When asked about the form of assistance, Yeoh said that the needs of each athlete, including the required funds, differed.
She said RTG's expenditure estimate will be finalised after a meeting with all the athletes. And the total expenditure will be announced after the committee's approval.
However, she said there was no limit set for the expenditure of the programme for the time being.
"For example, if an athlete needs accommodation closer to their training venue, we will get it done. We want to remove all obstacles which might prevent them from winning gold at the Paris Games."
Malaysia have won 13 medals (eight silver and five bronze), with Chong Wei being the most successful athlete with three Olympic silver.