AS the hunt for Malaysia’s first ever Olympic gold intensifies, the Sports Ministry have decided to give an extra “financial push” to the various sports in their last lap of preparations for Tokyo.
The ministry yesterday approved a RM22.5 million budget for national athletes to use in their training for the Olympics on July 24-Aug 9.
The allocation for the various sports are: cycling: RM8.37 million, badminton: RM6.45 million, diving: RM2.32 million, sailing: RM1.96 million, archery: RM940,710, golf: RM738,000, artistic gymnastics: RM644,905, karate: RM588,975, swimming: RM477,000.
Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who chaired the Road to Tokyo programme steering committee meeting in Putrajaya yesterday, believes it is a worthwhile investment.
“Before (we came to the decision) today, we had three separate meetings with the various national sports associations (NSAs) to discuss their requests for funding,” said Syed Saddiq.
“This RM22.5 million is for use between January and August. As we get closer to the Games, the athletes may have additional requirements to achieve those marginal gains needed and we will take a look if it is necessary to allocate more funds then.
“I believe it (RM22.5 million) is worth it, it is a good investment in our athletes as this is the final push for the Olympics. Their preparations had actually begun a long time ago.
“We have been in search of a first gold for many years now. The ministry, agencies and NSAs need to do whatever they can to support the athletes competing in the Olympics.”
To date, a total of 10 athletes from diving, archery, artistic gymnastics and sailing have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.
The Sports Ministry have earmarked another 25 athletes to qualify in the run-up to the Games, not including those who could receive wildcards.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Malaysia won four silver and one bronze to rank 60th among the competing nations.