SIXTEEN Malaysian medallists from the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games were honoured at an appreciation dinner in Kuala Lumpur following the contingent’s successful campaign.
The Council of Federal Datuks of Malaysia (MDPM) Fellowship and Appreciation Dinner brought together athletes, coaches, team managers, sports officials and sponsors.
Malaysia’s chef de mission Datuk Awalan Abdul Aziz said the contingent exceeded its target of five gold, two silver and four bronze medals by returning with eight gold, three silver and five bronze medals.
“This is history because we surpassed the target for every colour of medal despite sending our smallest Commonwealth Games contingent.
“Glasgow had fewer sports and events, but we still won more medals than at the previous Commonwealth Games over the last 16 years,” he said.
Awalan singled out the weightlifting squad, which contributed five gold medals, while also highlighting several breakthroughs by Malaysian athletes.
“Datuk Azizulhasni Awang proved himself by winning his first Commonwealth Games gold medal in the keirin, while Amir Daniel delivered Malaysia’s first judo gold medal.
“We also created more than 10 historic achievements, including Amin Izzat’s first medal for Malaysia in the men’s singles lawn bowls event,” he said.
Youth and Sports Ministry secretary-general Datuk Rahimi Ismail said the ministry and National Sports Council had taken a bold step by setting a five-gold target for Glasgow after not placing medal colour targets at major competitions for some time.
“We achieved eight gold medals and also broke five Games records in various sports, which is something the country can be proud of,” he said.
Rahimi said the government had also recognised the contingent through the Sports Victory Prize Scheme (Shakam), with more than RM1.104mil allocated in rewards.
“RM920,000 has been allocated to athletes and RM184,000 to coaches.
“The ministry is also discussing with the Finance Ministry whether higher contributions can be considered according to our financial capacity, while looking at best practices from other countries,” Rahimi said.
He added that stronger involvement from the private sector and non-governmental organisations was needed to build a sustainable support system for national athletes.
“We want the government, private sector and non-governmental organisations to work together to support our athletes.
“This ecosystem needs to be normalised so that athletes have greater comfort and certainty when it comes to funding,” he said.
MDPM president Datuk Alvin Tee said more than RM100,000 in sponsorship was secured from over 10 sponsors within a short period, including RM50,000 from Mah Sing Group Bhd.
“With the support from the sponsors, we were able to provide some incentives to the medallists. It may not be as much as hoped for, but everything was given sincerely and we will try our best,” he said.
Meanwhile, Azizulhasni said appreciation events carried significance for athletes who had spent years making sacrifices for the nation.
“When there is an appreciation event like this, at least we feel that the effort, sacrifices and sweat we put in are appreciated,” he said.
