LONDON, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's quest for a first ever gold medal at the London Olympics did not materialize but National Sports Council (NSC) Director-general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong still deemed it a success.
The Malaysian contingent managed a silver from badminton (Datuk Lee Chong Wei) and a bronze from diving sensation Pandelela Rinong, which equalled the 1996 Atlanta Olympics hosted by the United States.
"As for winning a gold medal, we did not succeed but it is not a failure because our medal haul equalled the Atlanta feat. The London Olympics also showed that we don't have to depend on badminton alone for medals," he told Malaysian reporters here Sunday.
In the Atlanta edition shuttlers Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock won a silver from the men's doubles while Rashid Sidek took a bronze from the men's singles.
In London, Chong Wei retained the silver medal which he had won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics while Pandelela won a bronze from the women's 10m Platform. Zolkples said the NSC would focus its attention on some competitive athletes in the London Games like cyclist Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, Yu Peang Kean (fencing) and Khairul Anuar Mohamad (archery) during the 2016 Brazil Olympics programme.
"They were competitive and showed a high level of performance and determination. There is a lot of room for improvement," he said.
He admitted that the 'Road to London 2012' programme with a RM20 million budget and aimed at winning the country's first ever gold medal in the Olympics, had not reached its objective yet.
"Only Chong Wei came close to winning a gold medal but lost to Lin Dan of China," he said.
Zolkples said the NSC would conduct a post-mortem to study the weaknesses in the Road to London programme to ensure Malaysia can win a gold in Brazil.
From ZULHILMI SUPAAT -- BERNAMA
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