THE newly elected president of Penang Masters Athletics Association (PMAA) is incentivising member participation and excellence at two upcoming competitions.
Dr Tan Yen Wooi announced a personal RM20,000 sponsorship involving the 38th Malaysian International Open Masters Athletics Championships (Miomac) from June 5 to 7 in Selangor, and World Masters Athletics Championships (Wmac) from Aug 22 to Sept 3 in Daegu, South Korea.
For Miomac, Tan said participants would be rewarded with RM300 for a gold medal, RM200 for silver and RM100 for bronze.
Non-medallists will receive a RM50 participation allowance.
For Wmac, the incentive is set at RM1,000 for gold, RM800 for silver and RM500 for bronze medallists.
Tan said his aim was to promote healthy ageing through sports, which would bring broader benefits to the community.
“Masters athletics is not just about competition.
“It promotes a sustainable and healthy lifestyle,” he said.
“We hope to encourage more middle-aged to senior individuals to stay active and maintain good health.
“We also want to support the state’s efforts in promoting sports and healthy living, while reducing the financial burden in grassroots sports development.”
Masters athletics events are open to those aged 35 and above, with competition categories divided into five-year age bands.
It provides a valuable platform for individuals who may have missed competitive sports opportunities in their younger years to test their mettle and represent their state or country.
In the previous edition of Miomac, Penang came 10th in the medal tally.
“I hope this incentive scheme will motivate more athletes to participate, achieve better results and move Penang up the table.”
Tan said the scheme was decided upon after a PMAA committee meeting, and clarified that the money came from him personally and did not involve association funds.
The RM20,000 will be split equally between the two competitions, with distribution subject to PMAA approval on a first-come-first-served basis.
For details, contact PMAA secretary P. Podimhatia at 016-462 8292.
