Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time once said, "Don't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get."
In a few months, our Malaysian athletes will be a few steps closer to their Olympic dream — perhaps our very first Olympic gold medal as they fly to Paris.
In this article, we will learn more about the sports that Malaysian athletes will be competing in and the background of the athletes who will represent Malaysia during the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
Pushing Limits and Racing With Speed
Let's begin with cycling. This time, Malaysia will send two male athletes and two female athletes to participate in the road cycling event, men's sprint event, women's spirit event, women's keirin event and men's keirin event.
Cycling (Road)
The road cycling race will take place outdoors where each athlete will start together at the same time. Male athletes will compete over a distance of 200km while female athletes will compete over a distance of 150km respectively. It's a sport that focuses a lot on endurance (physical and mental) — pacing themselves consistently through different parts of the race for the best finishing time.
Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir made history when she became the first Malaysian female cyclist to qualify for the women's road race event.
Hailing from Terengganu, Aisyah has consistently performed well during the past two years during the SEA Games and Asian Games and earned a quota to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics through the 2023 Asian Championships in Rayong, Thailand.
Cycling (Track)
When it comes to track cycling, it's a different story. The event takes place at a velodrome, 250m bowl-shaped arena. Track cycling was introduced during the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm.
Among the athletes who will represent Malaysia in track cycling are Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri.
First and foremost, Azizulhasni Awang needs no introduction. Having won an Olympic silver medal (2020 Tokyo Olympics) and an Olympic bronze medal (2016 Rio Olympics), this will be his fifth Olympic appearance. He will be participating in two events: men's sprint and men's keirin.
Next, we have our second male cyclist, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom who will also be competing in the same two events: men's sprint and men's keirin. This will be his second Olympic appearance.
Finally, we have our fourth and final cyclist, Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri. This is her Olympic debut and she will be competing in the women's sprint and women's keirin event.
There are many things to explore as a sports fan when you review the history of the Olympic Games.
Athletics
Muhd Azeem Fahmi will compete in the men's 100-metre event after qualifying for the Olympics through a universality place.
Pursuing Accuracy and Consistency with Strength
Now, let's talk about the two popular sports that revolve around concentration and accuracy — archery and shooting. If you have watched or tried these two sports, you can surely relate to the magic and thrill of a hit or miss, and now or never moment.
Archery
The archery targets are positioned 70m away from the archers, measuring 122mm in diameter. Naturally, the athlete who shoots the closest arrow to the target wins.
For the first round, 64 athletes (individual events) will compete in a ranking round where each must shoot 72 arrows. Based on their rankings, they later undergo a series of knockout systems until they reach the final.
Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi secured a place in the 2024 Paris Olympics women's individual archery event when she advanced to the final round and emerged as the champion of the 2023 Asian Continental Qualifier Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. This will be Ariana's first Olympic appearance at the age of 19.
The 2024 Paris Olympics is a historical moment for the Malaysian female archery team as they qualified for the first time at the 2024 Final Olympic Qualifiers Tournament in Antalya, Turkey. Two more female athletes, Nurul Azreena Fazil and Syaqiera Mashayikh will represent Malaysia in the individual event and team events.
Shooting
There are three categories under the shooting event: rifle, pistol and shotgun. Both rifle and pistol tournaments are held at indoor shooting ranges, covering target distances of 10m, 25m and 50m whereas shotgun tournaments take place outdoors.
Introducing our sole representative for shooting, Johnathan Wong Guanjie who has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics metre's 10 m air pistol event. He secured a quota after finishing fourth at the 2023 Asian Shooting Championships in Changwon, South Korea.
A seasoned athlete from Malacca, Johnathan previously won the gold medal for the 10-metre air pistol event and a silver medal for the 50-metre air pistol event during the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.
This will be his second Olympic appearance after the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Expand your knowledge on some of the most interesting Olympic happenings and fun facts before the upcoming Olympics.
Golf
Gavin Kyle Gabriel Green became the 21st Malaysian athlete to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics when he successfully placed 53rd out of the top 60 of the official Olympic Golf Rankings (OGR).
This will be Gavin's third Olympic appearance, following the Rio Olympics and Tokyo Olympics.
Sarawakian golfer, Ashley Lau will also represent Malaysia in the women's event after successfully clinching the 50th rank in the Olympic Golf Ranking (OGR).
Performing Balance On Water With Stamina and Speed
Let's switch gears for a little bit and talk about water-related sports, shall we?
This year, Malaysia will be sending four representatives for aquatics and two representatives for sailing.
Aquatics
Under aquatic sports, Malaysia will be participating in various swimming and diving events.
Khiew Hoe Yean will be competing in the Men's 400m Freestyle event while Tan Ruoxin will be participating in the Women's 100m Breaststroke event.
Both athletes will make their first Olympic appearance.
When it comes to diving, there are two types of categories: 3-metre springboard and the 10-metre platform.
Generally, divers are evaluated based on the following criteria:
- The complexity of the dive
- The aesthetic of the diver's movement (pleasing)
- The smooth entrance of the diver to the water after jumping
- The matched movements of divers (for synchronised diving)
For the 2024 Paris Olympics, Bertrand Rhodict Lises will represent Malaysia in the men's 10 m platform event while Nur Dhabitah Sabri will represent Malaysia in the women's 3m springboard event.
Source: Stadium Astro
Sailing
Next up, we have Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif who has qualified for the Women's ILCA 6 event. The ICLA 6 event is a singlehanded women's sailing discipline.
Shazrin has previously won the gold medal during the 2022 Asian Games. This will be her third Olympic appearance after the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
On the other hand, we have Khairulnizam Mohf Afendy who will compete in the Men's single-handed dinghy ICLA 7 event.
This will be Khairulnizam's fourth Olympic appearance following the 2012 London Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Don't forget to read up about the participation of Malaysia in different sports events during previous Olympic Games.
Producing Maximum Lifts With Stretch of Power
Do you know that since the 2016 Rio Olympics, Malaysia has never sent a representative for weightlifting?
Weightlifting is a competitive powerful sport that requires athletes to perform two types of lifts — combining the highest score of the two snatch and clean-and-jerk lifting records to determine the final winner.
Weightlifting
Well, the good news is we finally have one amazing athlete to represent us this year. He is none other than Aniq Kasdan who will participate in the -61kg weight class division.
Aniq is a promising athlete who has excelled during several international stages including the 2021 SEA Games in Hanoi, and winning the gold medal during the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
He was also the first Malaysian to win a silver medal at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships in Uzbekistan.
Let's root for Aniq's first Olympic appearance in July soon!
In the meantime, don't forget to keep yourself updated on the latest Malaysian athletes who have won an Olympic medal/ multiple medals.
Pacing Courts and Nets With Swift Strategies
Last but not least, we certainly must discuss one of the most talked about sports in Malaysia aka badminton.
Undeniably, almost every Malaysian has high hopes for our badminton athletes to secure an Olympic gold medal because badminton was the first sports event that contributed to our first Olympic medal during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Having said that, it's also the sport that has contributed the most Olympic medals so far — six silver medals and three bronze medals.
That's why it's no surprise that Malaysia is sending 8 badminton athletes for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
Badminton
This round, we have at least one representative for all the contested badminton events.
First, we have Lee Zii Jia who will play for the men's singles event. Zii Jia is currently the highest-ranked Malaysian for the men's single. He was the 2021 All-England champion and also the 2022 men's single Asian champion.
This will be his second Olympic appearance following the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Source: Borneo Post Online
Next, we have Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik who will compete in the men's doubles event. They are seen as hot favourites this year as the former Olympic bronze medallist during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Goh Jin Wei will participate in the women's singles event. This will be her first Olympic appearance.
For women's doubles, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan will take part in the women's doubles event — marking their maiden Olympic appearance.
Finally, we have Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei who will make their Olympic debut and contest in the mixed doubles event.
If you are a badminton fan, this is a great reason to stay glued to the screen and watch the exchange of shuttlecocks during the actual games.
For those of us who are inspired to pick up this sport again, we can always connect with an experienced badminton tutor to take our skills to the next level.
One way to find reliable and experienced badminton tutors is through Superprof, a dynamic tutoring platform that connects learners and tutors to have the best learning experience, whether it's academic subjects or sports.
Regardless of your learning level and physical location, you can always find a badminton tutor in a few simple steps through the user-friendly Superprof Malaysia homepage. At one glance, you can review the basic information of different tutors before contacting them via the messaging feature on their respective profiles.
Before you know it, you'll be swinging your badminton racquets and smashing around the court with your Superprof tutor!
We hope this article has given you a rich introduction to different sports and our fellow Malaysian athletes who will be part of the 2024 Olympics contingent.
May our dreams for the best outcome come true!
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