The Malaysian contingent's performance remains commendable despite missing the four-gold medal target at the just concluded Paris Paralympics.
National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Abdul Rashid Yaakub, who returned with the national team to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Tuesday evening, expressed pride in the para athletes' achievements, noting they secured two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal.
Around 200 sports fans gathered to welcome home the 2024 Paris Paralympic athletes, including gold medalists Cheah Like Hou and Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, silver medalists Datuk Abdul Latif Romly and Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli, as well as bronze medalist Eddy Bernard.
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National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Abdul Rashid Yaakub, who returned with the national team to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Tuesday evening, expressed pride in the para athletes' achievements, noting they secured two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal.
Around 200 sports fans gathered to welcome home the 2024 Paris Paralympic athletes, including gold medalists Cheah Like Hou and Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, silver medalists Datuk Abdul Latif Romly and Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli, as well as bronze medalist Eddy Bernard.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/mtd2mc6y
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
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NewsTranscript
00:00Crowd Cheering
00:25Alhamdulillah, for me, for MSN,
00:28for MSN, they came back with success.
00:30Congratulations to them, and we are grateful.
00:33The most important thing for MSN and MPM right now,
00:36we are grateful that we went safely,
00:38and we came back, Alhamdulillah, safely.
00:41We were able to go and bring them back safely.
00:44So that's the most important thing,
00:46because we know that they are para-athletes,
00:49so the most important thing is that we can take care of them well,
00:52so that they can compete well there,
00:55and come back safely.
00:57Overall, two gold medals.
00:59Okay.
01:00Far behind the other four.
01:02How is MSN labelling this achievement?
01:05Okay, first, I want to say that it's not far behind.
01:09The statement that it's far behind, for me, is incorrect.
01:12If we look at the Paralympics in Rio,
01:17the Paralympics in Tokyo,
01:20and until now, it's only three, three, two gold medals.
01:23But the number of gold medals is still the same.
01:26It's still the same.
01:27It's just that if we look at the target,
01:31or the target that was initially made by MPM,
01:36and repeated over and over again,
01:39we actually received that target well.
01:42But the initial target was indeed made by MPM.
01:45Anyway, MSN still supports that target,
01:50and we didn't succeed in getting that four gold medals.
01:53We admit that we didn't succeed,
01:57but those who didn't get the gold medals, got the medals.
02:00And for us, getting the medals is already quite high,
02:03and they also tried to get the gold medals.
02:05It's just that at the last moment,
02:07we all know, one country knows,
02:09at the last moment, the gold medals fell into the hands of another country.
02:13With the last jump, with the second, third, and last turn,
02:17so that's the custom in the sport.
02:19In the sport, there are winners and losers.
02:21So for us, we lost in certain places.
02:24So why don't we be a good loser?
02:27So just be a good loser.
02:29Nothing to...
02:30Why do we need to be too sad with this lack of gold medals?
02:35We still got five gold medals.
02:37We also got five gold medals in Tokyo.
02:39So that's the success.
02:41We still got two gold medals, but five gold medals.
02:45We still got five gold medals in the Paris Paralympics,
02:49and five gold medals in the Tokyo Paralympics.
02:51So it's not a decline.
02:53It's not a decline that's too big,
02:56and too drastic.
02:57In fact, we have to be proud
02:59of the 18 athletes who participated in the Paris Paralympics for the first time.
03:05That's 60%.
03:08That's big, ladies and gentlemen.
03:09More than half.
03:1060% of the athletes who participated in the Paris Paralympics
03:14participated for the first time.
03:16And we can also see
03:19that there are three or four athletes
03:21who have great potential
03:24to win gold medals in LA later.
03:27At the same time,
03:28the athletes who won gold medals in the Paris Paralympics
03:31will not be left to continue fighting
03:34in the LA Paralympics later.
03:36So I think the future is bigger,
03:40and we will probably bring home more gold medals.
03:43So the meaning of failure is not a failure,
03:47but we have a little decline.
03:49And we face that decline together.
03:53We share it together.
03:54We win as a team.
03:56We lose as a team.
03:57This is very important.
03:59We want to come back together
04:01and we celebrate the success and recovery
04:05that has been shown by our athletes.
04:09Coach, the gold medalist is a veteran athlete.
04:13So what are the positives from MSN?
04:16First, a veteran athlete like Bonny Buniau
04:20is still young.
04:21Even though he is a veteran, he has won twice.
04:24Maybe he is a veteran in that respect,
04:27but he is still young.
04:28He is only 25 years old.
04:30Based on his age and the competition,
04:34he should be able to compete
04:37in at least two more Olympics.
04:40That is our view.
04:42So it doesn't mean that he is a veteran athlete.
04:45A veteran in his own way, yes.
04:47But he is still young.
04:49As for Lekhau,
04:50we have discussed a little with him in Paris recently.
04:54He said he hasn't made any decisions yet,
04:57but based on the current level,
05:00and it is easy for him to show his opponent
05:04that he can still compete for a long time.
05:09So we feel that Lekhau will continue
05:13at least in the Asian Games in 2026.
05:17God willing, he will still be with us.
05:20So to replace him in badminton,
05:22we have a few other athletes.
05:24We have Fariz,
05:25we have other athletes like Amin,
05:27who will continue to move forward
05:31and will take the opportunity to replace Lekhau.
05:34If possible, he will be able to win the gold medal.
05:37I am very proud here
05:40because I was able to defend the gold medal
05:43that I won three years ago at the Tokyo Paralympics.
05:47And with an age that people can say is almost old,
05:55so this is not an easy thing to do,
05:59to be the champion at the highest level for badminton,
06:04which is the Paralympics.
06:06So I am very proud of myself.