KUCHING, The five-day athletics competition at the 2024 Malaysia Games (SUKMA), which ended yesterday, saw one new national record and 11 new Games marks set.

What that shows is that there is talent aplenty in track and field.

Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) president Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim

But the question now is, what next?

Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) president Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim, while happy with the achievements of the young athletes, believes that they need to be provided with the right pathway and opportunities to further improve and compete at the SEA Games.

This, he feels, could be the first step towards gaining exposure at the international level.

‘For those who won (at SUKMA 2024), we will ensure they are groomed for the SEA Games before going on to compete in higher-level competitions like the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games. We want them to get overseas exposure and, eventually, qualify for the Olympics.

‘So, their success here must result in them having a pro
per direction… we must keep track of them and their performance because, sometimes after SUKMA, they just vanish into the thin air. So, we don’t want this to happen again. We want to ensure that the gold medallists have a bright future in track and field,’ he told Bernama.

For the record, the sole national record set in the athletics competition at the Sarawak Stadium was achieved by Kelantan’s national backup runner Muhammad Fakrul Afizul Nasir in the men’s 400m hurdles.

The 20-year-old clocked 51.11 seconds (s) to erase his old mark of 51.26s set at the Asian Under-20 Athletics Championships in Yecheon, South Korea in June last year.

It also broke the Games record of 51.79s set by former track ace Mohd Zafril Mohd Zuslaini of Pahang in the 2004 edition in Negeri Sembilan.

Of the 11 Games records, eight were set in track events, two in the field events and one in men’s decathlon.

The other Games record-breakers in track events were Federal Territories’ (FT) Khor Jing Hong (men’s 20,000m race walk in 1 h
our 34 minutes 38.20s); Johor’s Umar Osman (men’s 400m in 46.78s and 800m in 1:51.19s); Johor (men’s 4x400m in 3:12.35s); Selangor’s Nur Afrina Batrisyia Mohamad Rizal (women’s 100m in 11.64s and 200m in 23.89s); and Negeri Sembilan’s Yee Zhi Xin (women’s 20,000m race walk in 2’5:47.02s).

Those who broke the Games records in field events were Sarawak’s Jonah Chang Rigan (men’s shot put – 17.66m); and Sarawak’s Ng Jing Xuan (women’s javelin – 45.12m); while Penang’s Wilson Quaik Zhen Han broke the decathlon Games record with 6,690 points.

Johor retained the athletics overall title after topping the medal chart with nine golds, five silvers and four bronzes, with Selangor (8-5-4) and FT (6-6-2) rounding up the top three positions.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency