KUALA LUMPUR: Sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli has warned that Malaysia could struggle to win gold medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics if it continues to depend on the same senior athletes.
The national contingent concluded its campaign at the Paris Paralympics yesterday (Sept 8) with a two gold, two silver and one bronze haul which was a slight decline compared to the three gold and two silver achieved at Tokyo 2020.
Malaysia had won three gold and one bronze at Rio 2016.
Pekan said although the contingent was unable to achieve the four-gold target that had been set by the Malaysia Paralympic Council (MPC), their performance was still commendable.
He, however, highlighted that Ziyad Zolkefli, 34, and Latif Romly, 27, can no longer be considered unbeatable in their respective events.
"Although they did not meet the four-gold target the contingent's overall performances were still good," said Pekan when contacted today.
"Ziyad and Latif, though they missed out on gold, were still able to win silver in their respective events.
"It was just that their performance on the day was not as we had expected. It also showed that we can no longer afford to be too comfortable or complacent in events we had previously dominated as other nations are taking the Paralympics much more seriously now.
"Ziyad has already competed in four Paralympics while Latif has already competed in three editions. Logically, can we continue to expect the same athletes to keep on consistently winning gold for us for so long?
"In badminton you could say that Cheah Liek Hou's gold was a bonus for us but we are not too worried as in this category as we have Fareez Anuar (28) who is developing into a good player and came close to winning a medal.
"There is a concern that we could struggle to win gold in the upcoming Paralympic cycles once these athletes have retired or are no longer at their best.
"We have to keep on developing new talent across all the various disability categories, it does not have to be in the same categories we are doing well in now."
Ziyad had been expected to win gold in the men's shot put F20 while Latif was expected to win the men's long jump T20, both are intellectual impairment categories.
Ziyad and Latif had both won gold at the Kobe World Championships earlier this year but were upstaged in Paris by younger opponents and were forced to settle for silver.
Latif was, however, hampered by an abdominal muscle injury.
Liek Hou, 36, and powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, 25, successfully defended their titles in the men's singles SU5 (physical impairment) and the men's under-72kg class respectively in Paris. Bonnie also set a new world record in the event.
Sprinter Eddy Bernard, 23, also did well to claim bronze in the men's 100m T44 (physical impairment) event. It was Malaysia's first medal in the sprint event since Ridzuan Puzi won gold in the men's 100m T36 (physical impairment) at Rio 2016.
Ridzuan, now 36, is not the force he once was and did not make the cut for the Paralympic contingent this time.
Pekan, however, commended MPC for setting a four-gold target which he said was a "brave" move by the umbrella body.
"MPC were right to set a four gold target, we had already won three gold at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 so we should not be aiming for the same level all the time," said Pekan.
"We all knew that winning four gold would not be easy but it shows that MPC are forward-thinking and brave when setting their goals.
"They showed that they are eying progress and are not out to please fans nor the Dewan Rakyat."
MPC president Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin has often made it clear that he is not a fan of setting ambiguous or pessimistic targets.