KUALA LUMPUR – Olympic veteran Noraseela Mohd Khalid commended Malaysia’s Paralympians for their outstanding achievements, emphasising the stark contrast in attitude between para-athletes and their able-bodied counterparts, who are still in pursuit of the elusive Olympic gold.
Malaysia’s Paralympians have secured a total of six golds, four silvers, and six bronze medals, with notable success in the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (2016) and Tokyo (2020).
Noraseela, also the president of the Malaysia Olympians Association (MOA), drew attention to the dedicated mindset of para-athletes compared to able-bodied athletes.
“When I go down to the track to witness how the Paralympians train, they do so with excitement. They will also be there early before their coach arrives, their attitude is different from the able-bodied athletes.
“When it comes to high performance there are only a few of us who can reach that top level.
“We have 354 Olympians, that is only 0.0011% of Malaysia’s population of about 32 million.
“The younger generation of able-bodied athletes need the right attitude if they want to step up to a higher level. To get the Olympic gold medal you need to go that extra mile,” she said.
Noraseela was met during a panel discussion titled ‘Forging Greatness and Counting the Cost’ at the Asian Sports Summit, organised by the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) and the Sports Law Associaton Malaysia (SLAM), here recently.
She shared insights during the panel discussion alongside bowling queen Datuk Shalin Zukfifli and Paralympic Council of Malaysia president Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin, moderated by Scoop assistant news editor Julie Jalaluddin.
Noraseela, who competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, reflected on the historical challenges faced by Olympians in the past and revealed that some of Malaysia’s Olympians purchased their attire and flight tickets out of their own pockets to compete at the Summer Games.
“Athletes these days have almost everything given to them. Is this the best practice, especially with the results that we see? I don’t know,” she questioned.
“We need to instil the right attitude in today’s athletes and help them identify their motivation in representing the country.
“We want to see them succeed, but they need to know the reason they train every day,” added Noraseela, who is also a four-time SEA Games gold medallist.
Despite Malaysia’s Paralympic success, its able-bodied athletes are yet to clinch a gold medal at the Olympic Games.
In response to this deficiency, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh launched the Road to Gold (RTG) programme in March last year, serving as a top-up to the Podium Programme.
This initiative aims to enhance high-performance preparation for elite athletes, covering the upcoming Olympic cycles in 2024 (Paris) and 2028 (Los Angeles). – January 23, 2024