PETALING JAYA: Former national athlete P. Savithri’s long wait for her medals from the 1971 SEAP Games in Kuala Lumpur could finally come to an end.
The 84-year-old, who won gold in the pentathlon and silver in the women’s 100m hurdles 54 years ago, never got to hold her medals as they never made it to her.
National Athletes Welfare Foundation (Yakeb) chairman Datuk Ahmad Shapawi said Savithri deserved to have her medals, even if they were replicas.
"Savithri is a member of Yakeb, but she has not mentioned anything about her medals before this," said Shapawi.
"But now that I am aware, we will get in touch with her and see what the full story is, and of course, we will try our best to do what we can for our former athlete."
Savithri, who was part of a legendary group of athletes from the 1960s to 1980s, was also part of the national hockey team from 1965 to 1974.
But during the 1971 SEAP Games in Kuala Lumpur, Savithri’s medals were borrowed by the officials due to shortages, and were never returned to her despite earlier promises.
