KUALA LUMPUR: National contingent chef de mission Datuk Hamidin Amin has stressed that Malaysia must immediately build on the encouraging performances shown by national athletes at the Paris Olympics.
Hamidin said although the athletes failed to achieve the goal of winning the nation's first-ever gold medal, many had shown improvement and had punched above their weight at the games which concluded in The City of Light yesterday.
Malaysia ended the competition with two bronze medals in badminton to place 80th overall in the medal table from 206 countries and was the fourth highest ranked Southeast Asian country behind Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.
In total, five personal bests were bettered in Paris with three of them being national records. The national records were achieved by Azizulhasni Awang and Izzah Izzati Asri in track cycling as well as Aniq Kasdan in weightlifting.
Malaysia had sent 26 athletes to compete at the games.
"We have to be realistic, this is a world class competition and although we were on the hunt for gold, we have to understand where we are ranking-wise (in each sport)," said Hamidin during a press conference in Paris yesterday.
"We do not have a world No. 1 ranked player, the closest we have is Azizulhasni who is in the top-three.
"But our athletes were still able to show good performances which exceeded their rankings. They were also able to break national records and set new personal bests.
"In badminton for example, Lee Zii Jia was ranked world No. 7 but was able to win bronze. Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (world No.13) were also able to finish in the top-four of the women's doubles while Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik also did well to retain their men's double bronze.
"In weightlifting, Aniq Kasdan was ranked about seventh but finished fourth and came very close to winning a medal. He also broke the snatch national record.
"In track cycling, Shah Firdaus Sahrom showed improvement by reaching the final while Izzah Izzati Asri also broke the (200 metre) national record on her debut.
"We have to continue our efforts and groom our athletes for Los Angeles 2028 starting from now. We cannot afford to wait until a year before the games before starting (preparations).
"We also have to select sports which have potential to focus on. We cannot focus on everything".
Hamidin admitted that Azizulhasni's disqualification in the men's keirin track cycling event was a huge disappointment but said it served as an important experience to learn from.
Azizulhasni, drawn sixth behind the derny, was judged to have overtaken the derny before it left the track during his first round heat at the Saint Quentin en Yvelines Velodrome on Saturday.
Azizulhasni had been the nation's best bet to win a gold medal at the games.
"In sports there are many different regulations we have to adhere to. This is a (learning) experience not only for Azizulhasni but also for everyone," said Hamidin.
"I think he is probably the most disappointed person on earth at the moment, we are all disappointed. But it is important to support him and his family in this difficult period.
"We should never forget his contributions to the country, especially his bronze at Rio 2016 and silver at Tokyo 2020."
Meanwhile, National Sports Council (NSC) director general Abdul Rashid Yaakub said they are looking at developing talent in sports which have been recently added to the Olympic programme as well as sports such as weightlifting.
"We have already started the Fast Track programme to groom athletes for LA2028 earlier this year and will look to continue identifying athletes with potential, such as those ranked in the top-20 in the world, to be added to this programme," said Rashid at the same press conference.
"We are looking at sports which offer a higher number of medals and also have weight categories for athletes. Aniq has achieved something we have never done before and we feel that there are more athletes which we can further develop.
"At the same time, we are also looking at developing talent in (newer) Olympic sports such as sport climbing, skateboarding and also surfing."
Rashid added that NSC will conduct a detailed analysis on the contingent's performance in Paris after obtaining reports from national coaches and team managers.
The findings will then be discussed with the Nippon Sports Science University to identify areas to improve on.