Monday 13 August 2012

Going for gold

The 2012 edition of the Olympics in London has ended. Quite an exciting sporting event. I stayed glued to the TV to watch a few sports, some of which I never had any interest before. Looking back to 4 years ago, I can't recall any significant time I spent watching the Beijing games. This time around, I eagerly switched channels to view athletes perform their skills in archery, shooting, diving, weight-lifting, volleyball and of course, track & field.

Why the increase in interest this time? Maybe because London is a place I am familiar with... but the real reason must be that Astro had so many channels on offer.

I have never watched archery before. I never knew about the format of competition, the method of scoring or which nation was favourite to win. This time, I learned a bit about the sport by watching it on television. The main reason for my interest is because Malaysia participated in the event. We did not win anything in archery but I believe we are in the right direction. A bit more training and talent search, I think we can be in the top flight of this sport quite soon.

I remember a chat I had with a friend, a long long time ago, about the chances of Malaysia ever winning a medal at the Olympics. At that time, badminton was not yet an Olympic sport. We had a few good track & field athletes but they never stood a chance against the well-trained and physically superior Americans and Europeans. The well-known Olympic phrase of `not about the winning but the taking part' was starting to sound bland. My friend mentioned that if we can't match our opponents in terms of physique, then we should involve ourselves in other sports that rely more on skill rather than just pure strength. Sports like shooting and archery.

Over the years, we have seen more of our participation in such sports. The medals aren't coming in yet but if we keep at it, I'm pretty sure we will have a champion soon. Just look at the sport of diving. Pandelela's bronze medal is something to be proud of after many years of hard work. The sporting authorities should build on this success and make diving into a more popular sport. Hopefully we can have both male and female winners in diving at the next session in Rio.

With 2 medals (1 silver and 1 bronze), it is the best Olympics we have had. Malaysia ranks no.63 in the medal tally, not as good as some less-developed nations (Ethiopia or Mongolia) but still better than our richer neighbour. I watched the badminton singles final match and I think Lee Chong Wei did his best. I don't think he can do any better in 4-years time, so BAM should perhaps plan for another strategy. We sorely need a replacement for Chong Wei. In fact, we should also have a top-class doubles pair too so that we have more options in our search for that elusive Olympic gold...

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Did U hear about that Johari Pain guy who vowed to cut off his private parts if Pandelela won a medal? It was hilarious!

He is , of course, no way to be found now...

Fadhil said...

I really hope that Johari fella will keep to his word... just to show that he's a man who's got balls... or maybe he already has not got any, hahaha!

JohorMali said...

Sdra,
Perhaps Msia should embark seriously on sports where size does not matter. Forget Basketball. Shooting and archery,reqiure concentration and focussing apart from skill and a bit of luck. Diving, gymnastic, sailing and perhaps equestarian deal more in technique, skill and stamina.
These are the sports that Malaysian may have the chance to compete apart from the bicycle and badminton. Malaysian hockey tried hard to be eligible to participate at the olympics each time.
Beach volleyball are for the perverts. Just wonder why squash was never in the olympics.

Fadhil said...

Sdra JohorMali,

Apa khabar? Long time no see..

Yes, these are the sort of sports that Malaysian would have a fair chance at getting medals. And I believe certain sport associations like archery for example, are moving in the right direction. If they can spur further interest amongst our general public, then more talent can be discovered and more support can be garnered.

Malaysian hockey used to great at one time. It has been on the downtrend for too long...