No medal target in Beijing

THE Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) will not set a medal target for the national contingent for the Beijing Olympic Games on Aug 8-24. OCM president Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja'afar said it is unrealistic to impose a medal target for the Olympics as it highly difficult to predict which way results would go.

"Unlike other Games such as the Sea Games where we roughly know what we would get, the Olympics are of a much higher level and is more difficult to predict.

"We have good chances in badminton and a fair chance in archery and cycling but to say that they would bring back medals is going to be difficult," said Tunku Imran after a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony between the Malaysian Cricket Association and the Western Australia Cricket Association in Bandara Kinrara yesterday.

Tunku Imran said the 33 athletes going to Beijing represents a significant improvement for Malaysia.
"The 33 athletes all qualified from individual sports and not team sports which is a real improvement for us. The associations who have got them there have done a magnificent job," he said.

Tunku Imran does not believe there will be any addition to the national contingent with only two weeks left before cut off for qualification.

"I can't see any addition to the 33 and even if anyone does come in now, the athlete is unlikely to be a medal contender."

Tunku Imran also expressed disappointment with hockey's failure to qualify for a second straight Olympics and hopes the Malaysian Hockey Federation will be able to resolve the issues affecting the sport.

"Hockey's failure to qualify is a big disappointment. They have been there or thereabouts and I hope they get their issues sorted out. We have a strong following in hockey and it is a question of putting it all together."

NST