PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's legendary badminton champion, Datuk Lee Chong Wei, shares an amusing way to motivate the country's Olympic athletes.
Taking to Facebook, he recalled his Olympic debut in 2008 against Hong Kong’s badminton player Ng Wei.
"Even in my first Olympics, when I faced off against Ng Wei from Hong Kong, my hands were shaking from the nerves," Lee recalled in a post on Saturday (July 27).
"I couldn’t stop sweating; my mind was a total mess."
"My coach saw I was nervous, so he called over Team Malaysia's psychologist to chat with me," wrote Lee.
A man then approached him and offered some words of wisdom.
“This guy came over to me, immediately held my hand and started to give a motivational speech,” Lee recounted.
“‘Jason, don’t be nervous. I know it's your first time. But Jason, strengthen your mind and emotions. Don’t be anxious,’ said the man” recounted the three-time Olympic silver medalist.
"I looked at the coach, and the coach looked at me. We were both confused. Since when was my name Jason?"
I corrected him, "Hey bro, I'm not Jason." He replied, "I know, Jason is my name. I'm nervous, too. This is my first time being the psychologist for such a big event. So before I motivate you, I have to motivate myself first."
Lee then shared how he and his coach laughed, and his anxiety melted away
"Maybe that was the psychologist's unique way of doing things," Lee mused. “Don’t be anxious, Malaysia’s athletes. Aim for gold!” he added.
Lee's anecdote sparked his follower’s curiosity about the psychologist
Maman said, “Tag that Jason. We want to see his face. Hahaha.”
Rizal Rodzuan added, “Please tag Jason’s Facebook as well; we want to see this funny motivator.”
Muhammad Najih commented, “Jason pulled off a stunt. Luckily, DLCW could stop laughing in the arena.”
Sufiyan Ismail joked, “Jason must be an experienced psychologist... making the athlete laugh and instantly easing his anxiety. Since time was running out, there wasn’t enough time to talk much... just make them laugh to relieve stress. The best!”
