RM1 Million Incentive A Great Motivator, Says M. Jegathesan

ROSLINDA SAMSU dan Wong Meng Choo (atas).

KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama) -- The RM1 million incentive announced by the government for the Olympic-bound athletes who bag the country's first-ever gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, is a great motivator for them to excel, said Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) deputy president Datum M. Jegathesan.

He said the handsome incentive would further motivate the athletes who will be competing in ten sports at the world's biggest games.

"With the announcement, I firmly believed our athletes will strive harder to win the country's first-ever gold medal," he said, adding the incentive was considered to be the highest if compared to other countries.

M. Jegathesan told this to reporters after attending an OCM Selection Committee meeting held at Wisma OCM here Tuesday.

On top of the RM1 million incentive announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak after chairing a Cabinet Committee on Sports Development meeting here today, athletes who win a silver medal will get RM300,000 and RM100,000 for the bronze.


Teams that win a gold medal will be rewarded RM150,000 each player. The monthly pension for Olympic medal winners will also be increased from RM3,000 to RM5,000 for gold medallists, RM1,500 to RM3,000 for silver medallists and RM1,000 to RM2,000 for bronze medallists.

M. Jegathesan said OCM had endorsed 33 athletes who respectively had qualified for the Beijing Olympics this August.

"However, the actual number of the Olympic-bound athletes will be finalised at the end of this month. We have two top national swimmers and a sailor who are still competing to qualify to the games this month," he said.

The two swimmers are Foo Jian Beng and Marellyn Liew and Rufina Tan for sailing.

The following are the athletes who have qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games:

1. Archery -- Cheng Chu Sian, Muhammad Marbawi Sulaiman, and Wan Mohd Khalmizan Wan Abdul Aziz.

2. Diving -- Bryan Nickson Lomas, Leong Mun Yee, Elizabeth Jimie and Pandelela Rinong Pang.

3. Swimming -- Daniel William Bego, Siow Yi Ting, Khoo Cai Lin, Lew Yih Wey, and Leung Chii Lin.

4. Athletics -- Roslinda Samsu (women's Pole Vault), Yuan Yu Fang (women's 20km walk), and Lee Hup Wei (men's high jump).

5. Badminton -- Men: Lee Chong Wei (singles), Wong Choong Hann (singles), Koo Kien Keat (doubles), Tan Boon Heong (doubles), Lee Wan Wah (doubles), and Choong Tan Fook (Doubles).

Women: Wong Mew Choo (singles), Wong Pei Tty (doubles), and Chin Ee Hui (doubles).

6. Cycling -- Azizul Hasni Awang, Josiah Ng, Mohd Edrus Yunus, and Rizal Tisin.

7. Sailing -- Dr. Kevin Lim (Laser).

8. Shooting -- Hasli Izwan Amir Hasan (men's 25m rapid pistol fire).

9. Taekwondo -- Elaine Teo Shueh Fhern (women's below 57kg) and Che Chew Chan (below 67kg).

10. Weighlifting -- Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim (men's below 56kg).

-- BERNAMA