KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's recent performance at the Paris Olympics was neither a failure nor a disaster, says former youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He described the two bronze medals won by the Malaysian contingent as average, comparing them to similar achievements made by the country in Atlanta in 1996, Beijing (2008), London (2012), and Tokyo (2020).
"Many people say that since we did not win a gold medal or achieve the positions we did in previous Olympics, then it's a failure, (but) I don't see it that way.\
"I conclude that two bronze medals, regardless of the colour, are an average number (as) if we look at Atlanta 1996, London 2012, and Tokyo 2020, we got two each, and only one in Beijing 2008.
"So, two is the average. The exceptional one was in Rio 2016 when we got five," Khairy said in an episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast.
Khairy said that some might criticise the athletes' performance due to the absence of a silver medal.
However, he stressed that achieving Olympic medals involved not only extraordinary skill but also a degree of luck – luck in the draw, the conditions on the day, and the athlete's fortunes.
Yesterday, Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh apologised for the national contingent's failure to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. However, she stressed that the multi-million ringgit Road to Gold (RTG) programme was not a failure, as it also covered the 2024 Paris and 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Malaysia ended the competition with two bronze medals in badminton, placing 80th overall in the medal table out of 206 countries. Malaysia was the fourth highest-ranked Southeast Asian country, behind the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia.
In total, five personal bests were achieved in Paris, with three of them being national records. The national records were set by Azizulhasni Awang and Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri in track cycling, and Aniq Kasdan in weightlifting.