KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim expressed great pride in the achievements of seven national athletes who brought honour to Malaysia at the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.
Anwar posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday (Oct 22) that he had the opportunity to meet the "Magnificent Seven": Lee Zi Jia, Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Cheah Liek Hou, Bonnie Bunyau Anak Gustin, Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli and Eddy Bernard. These athletes won medals in Paris in their respective sports.
"I am proud of their fantastic achievement and was touched to hear them share how they began while still in school and worked tirelessly to break down every obstacle put in their way en route to becoming world-class athletes and, at the same time, uniting all Malaysians through their success,” he said.
Anwar said he was also impressed after listening to Wooi Yik share how he withstood the pain of a fractured and swollen toe for 74 minutes during the bronze-medal match in Paris.
"Thank you for your courage and sacrifices in ensuring the Malaysian flag flew majestically in Paris,” he posted.
In the same post, the Prime Minister expressed the government's determination to continue intensifying national sports development, especially by allocating over RM230mil under Budget 2025.
The allocation is, among other things, for the Podium Programme, athlete training, the Road to Gold programme, and the preparation of para-athletes ahead of the World Para Athletics Championships and Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics.
Anwar said the allocation is also for maintenance and repair works on youth and sports facilities nationwide and the sport matching grant, which encourages associations and non-governmental organisations to host sports competitions. – Bernama
