KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian contingent to this year's Olympics will be one of the smallest in recent years.
Chef de Mission (CDM) Datuk Hamidin Amin admitted today that the contingent will be "small".
So far, only five Malaysians have qualified for the Paris showpiece. They are recurve archer Ariana Nur Dania Zairi, road cyclist Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir, diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises, sailor Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif and shooter Johnathan Wong.
Expected to earn their places later are track cyclists Azizulhasni Awang and Shah Firdaus Sahrom, men's doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, women's doubles Pearly Tan-M.Thinah and men's singles Lee Zii Jia.
The contingent will shrink following the national men's hockey team and divers Pandalela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri's failure to qualify to the Paris Olympics.
"It's not worrying, we have to accept that some of the athletes have not qualified. It will be tough for us at this Olympics," said Hamidin.
"The athletes that qualified must push to the maximum to get the medals. The Olympics Council of Malaysia and the Youth and Sports Minister want the athlete to win the elusive first gold and create history.
"We must accept that we didn't get hockey and diving into the Olympics. We already know the size of the contingent will be reduced.
"We must push for the others to qualify."
Hamidin said he will propose for Bertrand to be included in the Road To Gold (RTG) programme as he has the potential to compete in at least next two Olympics.
"Bertrand is 19 years old, he's the future. His first KPI (Key Performance) is to improve his world ranking, he's now ranked No. 12.
"He can compete in a few more Olympics, we must take care of him, he's a potential athlete for the future. "