KUCHING: Several strategies have been planned for the Sarawak contingent to reclaim the Para Sukma Games title for the upcoming edition.
Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said under the previous participation rules, each event would involve three states and three athletes and failure to meet the requirement would result in the event being cancelled.
“Recalling the previous Games (Para Sukma 2022), our team travelled to Kuala Lumpur, only to find out that some events were cancelled due to last-minute withdrawals by certain states.
“The last minute withdrawals include one event where we believed our athletes could win the gold medal, resulting in our inability to compete as originally intended.
“Now the rules have been amended to two states and four athletes to give our athletes more winning chances,” she told the media after attending the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) appreciation dinner, Hari Raya and Pre Gawai 2024 dinner at The Waterfront Hotel here yesterday (May 14).
She said the Paralympic Council Malaysia (MPM) organised a training course for classifiers in Kuala Lumpur recently, aiming to prevent instances of incorrect classification of para athletes that had affected past competitions.
“In some cases, our athletes were incorrectly classified, leading to their ineligibility to participate upon reaching the competition venue.
“Such situations have resulted in the loss of several gold medals, thus preventing us to secure the overall title in the previous edition.
“This time, all athletes must be classified properly at the state level to ascertain their qualifications before competing in the Games in Sarawak,” she added.
She said the overseas training and competition exposure for the para athletes have produces great results, with some of them have achieved outstanding successes.
“That is why we have been sending our athletes to overseas training to expose them to competitions outside Sarawak as part of our preparation,” she stated.
Fatimah further said the athletes received incentives from the state government during the training sessions.
“We have centralised training programmes for Sarawak’s para athletes, which focus not only on physical development but also enhance their mental strength for the coming Games,” she added.
