Khairy: We should strive for nothing less than gold in Tokyo 2020

SEPANG: After surpassing all expectations with a five-medal haul in the just concluded Rio Olympics, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia should not settle for less in Tokyo 2020.

Although Malaysia failed to bag its first Olympic gold medal, there were standout performances from badminton, diving and cycling.

The men’s doubles pairing of Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying beat the odds to claim the silver medal while Lee Chong Wei gave his all before going down fighting to Chen Long of China in the men’s singles.

Pandelela Rinong-Cheong Jun Hoong rose to the occasion to deliver silver in women’s 10m platform synchro – the first for the Malaysian contingent while Azizulhasni Awang made a breakthrough with his bronze-medal ride in keirin for the nation’s first cycling medal.

“The message from this Olympics shows us that the benchmark has risen.

“We came close to winning the gold and we must expect better things from the sports that delivered in Tokyo the next time around.

“The SEA Games is no more the level for these athletes. One thing our medal winners displayed is the Olympic mindset and I think their performances gave them the self-belief.

“I am proud of their achievement and I think the nation too. Although we did not get the gold in the end, we still managed to win five medals compared to our total medal haul of six from previous Olympics,” said Khairy in welcoming back the Malaysian contingent from Rio.

A heroes’ welcome was given to the athletes led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor at the Komplek Bunga Raya.

Khairy added the challenge now is how to lay the proper foundation for the next Olympics.

“Our shuttlers did well in Rio and we showed we can win in the mixed doubles too.

“We have to ensure we have depth in our squad and more younger players can break into the world ranks.

“Diving showed high potential and we could have got two medals.

“We need to enhance our diving team. The level of competition is going up with more Asian and European countries able to compete for the podium.

“We have a young team but, like badminton, need more depth with a bigger pool of divers.

“I have spoken with head coach Yang Zhuliang and we will be appointing more coaches and upgrading training equipment immediately in order to have a competitive training base in Kuala Lumpur as well as our current overseas base in China.

“Same goes for cycling as we need more cyclists to come up the ranks,” said Khairy, adding that they will also look at other sports which have not yet tasted Olympic success but with the potential to do so in the future.

Tokyo has added new sports including karate where Malaysia have a realistic chance to strike medals.