THEY were supposed to be there fighting for self-respect. Instead, they won the respect of all of Asia, bringing home three unexpected bronzes.
The track team truly defied the odds at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Shereen Samson Vallabouy and Mohd Azeem Fahmi, still 19, proved to be the darlings of Malaysia with promise of greatness in the future.
Shereen’s long strides captivated the hearts of many as she sped to the 400m bronze medal.
The 24-year-old showed she had the legs to sprint as well when she anchored the women’s 4x100m team, comprising Azreen Nabila Alias, Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli and Nur Afrina Batrisyia Mohd Rizal.
That bronze was even more shocking, as it came thanks to Bahrain’s disqualification over a lane infringement.
Azeem – affable, confident and boisterous – delivered the bronze medal in style in the men’s100m, with a time of 10.11s, just 0.02s behind his national record.
It was the first international medal for the teenager, who has been waiting for one since his international debut in 2022.
The Teluk Intan-born athlete, who currently studies at Auburn University in the United States, said it is nice to see Malaysia among the medals again.
The last time Malaysia had a medal was in 2006 – 17 years ago – when Noraseela Khalid won a bronze in the 400m hurdles and Roslinda Samsu a silver in the pole vault.
In fact, the last men’s sprint medal came 41 years ago when Rabuan Pit won a gold.
Azeem felt it was time for a Malaysian resurgence to recapture the heydays of the 80s and 90s, when Malaysia came home with gold medals.
Under technical director Robert Ballard, he felt Malaysian athletics could rise again.
“Before my race, Ballard gave me lots of pointers, which helped me a lot, especially in terms of my reaction times,” said Azeem.
“Shereen and I have won individual medals after 17 years. I hope Ballard can guide us to be a better team. We need to shine like in the 80s and 90s. We have to be a feared nation in athletics again.”
However, that will take some doing.
National 400m record holder Umar Osman was left wishing he had a better outing in his Asiad debut when he failed to qualify for the final of his event.
He finished fourth in his heat with a time of 46.58s, just a few milliseconds off his record of 46.33s.
The field section, meanwhile, needs a lot of work.
Hammer thrower Grace Wong finished 10th in the final with a throw of 57.46m, far from her best of 62.48m, the national record.
Another hammer thrower Jackie Wong Siew Cheer finished 11th with a throw of 62.79m.
Then, there was Andre Anura Anuar, who finished ninth in the Group B long jump qualification with a leap of 6.71m. In the triple jump, the 24-year-old made some amends when he finished eighth with a jump of 16.00m, his season best, in the final.
Heptathlete Norliyana Kamaruddin, competing in the high jump for the first time, was a shadow of her old self. She could only complete 1.65m, far from her best of 1.82m.
Discus throwers Irfan Shamsuddin and Queenie Ting Kung Ni also didn’t fare well and pole vaulter Nor Sarah Adi did not even record a jump during the Games.
The National Sports Council will review the training programmes for the field squad as they look to that section in future Games.
The also need to ensure that the promise shown by the track team is kept. It is time to build on what we have.
