KUALA LUMPUR – The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) expects a contingent of around 28 athletes to head for the Paris Olympic Games in July.
Its president, Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria, informed the media today that provisionally 18 athletes from seven sports have qualified for the Olympics.
“We expect more to qualify ahead of the qualification deadline in June, especially from archery.
“They will head to Antalya, Turkey, to compete in a World Cup event from June 18 to 23, and we are looking at qualifiers from both individual and team events.
“There will also be a reallocation of unused quotas in aquatics diving and wild card slots for swimming and athletics… so in total, we expect to send a contingent of 28 athletes to the Olympics,” said Norza at a press conference after the OCM’s 209th executive council meeting here, today.
He said that to date, Malaysia has officially nine athletes who have qualified for the Summer Games in July.
They are sailors Khairulnizam Mohd Affendy and Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif; track cyclists Datuk Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, and Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri; road cyclist Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir; archer Ariana Nur Dania Mohmad Zairi; diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises; and shooter Johnathan Wong.
While shuttlers Lee Zii Jia, Goh Jin Wei, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei; and weightlifter Mohamad Aniq Kasdan have provisionally confirmed their spots.
The qualification deadline for badminton and weightlifting is on April 28, and the official announcement is expected to be made tomorrow. – April 29, 2024