MA set sights on personal bests, not medals, for Irfan and Grace

MALAYSIA Athletics (MA) are not chasing medals at the Commonwealth Games. Afterall, they are in a different league against their competitors.

All they want for their two athletes, discus thrower Irfan Shamsuddin and hammer thrower Grace Wong, in Glasgow is to set their own personal bests and rewrite the national record books.

Irfan and Grace will be out to strut their stuff when the athletics competition begins on Monday at Scotstoun Stadium.

MA secretary-general Nurhayati Karim said the pair earned their spots on merit, having met the qualification criteria required to compete.

“We are only sending athletes who have qualified. Under the qualification criteria, only Grace and Irfan qualified,” she said.

“We are not setting any medal targets.

‘‘What we expect is for both of them to achieve personal bests, because if they manage to record a personal best, it will also set a new national record.’’

Nurhayati explained that the qualification demands athletes rank within the top 10 among Commonwealth nations to be part of the competition, a tougher yardstick than regional rankings.

“We cannot compare Commonwealth rankings with Asian rankings because Commonwealth nations include athletics powerhouses from Africa and other countries with an extremely high level of competition.

“That is why the benchmark used is a top 10 ranking. Even if they go to Glasgow and simply manage to achieve a personal best, that alone will be something to be proud of because it will result in a new national record,” she added.

“And if that happens, it would augur well for the Asian Games, so yes, we are positive about these two athletes.”

Irfan heads into the Games in strong form after breaking his own national record with a throw of 62.87m at the Nemzetkozi Atletikai Balatkn Bajnoksag in Veszprem, Hungary, on June 20.

Grace holds the women’s hammer throw national record with a mark of 65.41m set at the 2025 SEA Games, and arrives in good touch after winning the Malaysian Open last month with a throw of 61.98m.