Powerful impact of international sports

DESPITE all the problems in Brazil – political instability, financial and economic woes and the Zika menace – the 2016 Rio Olympics has finally begun.

And tens of thousands of sports fans, athletes and officials are assembled at Rio for the greatest sports spectacle on planet earth.

Malaysians have a special reason to watch the Rio Games because we are anxiously waiting to see which of the probable sports – archery, badminton, cycling and diving (A,B,C or D) –will win the first Olympic gold for our country, “Hunt for the elusive gold” (The Star, Aug 5).

Of course, I pick B although the others have the potential to be podium winners too.

Let us be realistic; diving is a subjective sport. China is surely the undisputed and unchallenged powerhouse for this event, and the judges as usual consciously or unconsciously appear to have predetermined the results unless the divers mess up in their performances.

Archery is not only a sport of skill but it is also, and more importantly, dependent on mental strength. Can our archers match the competition in these two determining qualities?

No one should underestimate Azizulhasni Awang’s fighting spirit and determination to get a podium finish in cycling because the keirin event is very unpredictable; with a bit of luck in his strategy to outmanoeuvre his opponents, even a gold is possible.

As for the rest of the Malaysian athletes, we expect them to go for the national records or at least improve their performance by clocking better times and positions.

In short, all athletes should remember that the authorities and taxpayers have invested huge sums of money, immense time and effort on them so there is no option but to perform and give it their best shot.

Malaysian sports fans, like their counterparts across the globe, will be glued to their seats after waiting patiently for four years to watch stars like Usain Bolt (two-time Olympic record holder of the 100m and 200m events) and Michael Phelps (Olympic record winner of 18 gold medals in swimming) to smash more Olympic and world records.

Besides watching the games on television, computers, tablets and smartphones, the audience would also show an increased interest in sports and being active before, during and after the Games.

In my view, there is a positive correlation between extensive media coverage of major sports events such as the Olympic Games, English Premier League and other tournaments and competitions with people showing an interest in being more active and taking up sports.

THOMAS KOK

Ipoh