KUALA LUMPUR: Five athletes will have one month to decide whether they want to compete in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Sarawak from Aug 17-24 or the World Junior Athletics Championships (WJAC) in Lima, Peru, from Aug 27-31.
The five male athletes who have qualified for the WJAC are Pengiran Aidil Auf Hajam of Sabah (100m, 200m), Hanssen Yap of Sabah (100m), Sayyid Amin Roslan of Penang (200m), Ng Tak Sing of Penang (triple jump) and Fiross Faizal of Johor (110m hurdles).
Malaysian Athletics Federation technical director John Ballard said the five have until June 16 to make a decision.
"We need to submit their names to the National Sports Council and decide who will bear their costs to travel to Peru.
"We also need to make arrangements to buy flight tickets and these athletes need to go early by Aug 21 to get acclimatised due to the 13-hour difference in time zones.
"The Sukma athletics dates are from Aug 19-23 and we hope to have a few events early so that these five athletes can compete in Sukma and then travel to Peru."
However, the final say is up to the athletes themselves and their states.
They may be tempted to forego the rare opportunity to feature in the WJAC due to the cash reward of RM5,000 to RM10,000 offered by their states for winning medals of any colour in Sukma.
The dates of the WJAC and Sukma are close to each other, making it difficult for the athletes to peak twice in such a short period.