KUALA LUMPUR: With less than six months left to go until the Paris Olympics, Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has reminded athletes under the Road to Gold (RTG) programme that they have no excuse not to perform well.
Yeoh said all the requests by RTG athletes have been fulfilled by the government.
"As Datuk Lee Chong Wei (RTG committee member) said recently, everybody must buck up and put in extra hard work now," said Yeoh today.
"Issues of not having enough money to train and not getting enough support from the government are out of the question.
"As of a few months ago, all the support they need has been given to them via the RTG programme.
"The prime minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) has given RTG a budget which is sufficient. Everything is there.
"From now until Paris, it is really in the hands of the athletes. They have to excel and they must be determined to win gold.
"They have to make the dream come true, not just for us (Malaysia) but also for themselves."
RTG is an elite athlete preparation programme intended to provide cream-of-the-crop athletes the additional support they need to challenge for gold in Paris, LA2028 2028 and other major international competitions.
In addition to sport science support, competition exposure and coaching, athletes under RTG also receive an additional allowance of RM3,000 a month.
There are currently 14 athletes under the RTG programme.
Yeoh, however, declined to comment on the national divers' performance at the ongoing Doha World Aquatic Championships, which also doubles as an Olympic qualifier.
Malaysian divers failed to secure Olympic qualification for the women's 10-metre platform individual event at the championships earlier this week.
"I don't want to comment now because they are still competing (in other events) there. Let them finish their outing first," said Yeoh.
Yeoh was speaking after attending the Sime Darby Foundation Women and Girls in Sports Forum in Kuala Lumpur today.
The forum's objective was to discuss ways to create a more inclusive environment for women in the country's sports development.
Sports icons, administrators and coaches, such as Datuk Nicol David, Datuk Shalin Zulkifli, Datuk Low Beng Choo, Sarina Sundara Rajah and national track cycling head coach John Beasley were among those who spoke on the panel.