KUCHING: Our athletes’ preparation will not be affected by the 20th Malaysian Games (SUKMA) being held two weeks earlier.
Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said this yesterday during the press conference of the Spartan Race Sarawak 2022.
“It will not affect us because Sarawak Sports Corporation and our athletes have prepared for two years now and they are raring to go for the upcoming SUKMA.
“Hopefully we will perform well and perhaps turning out to be the champions of Malaysian Games this time,” he said.
Karim also pointed out that some of our athletes had been preparing outside Sarawak in the past year.
“Actually, our cycling team are based in West Malaysia and based on the results of their training I believe we can achieve some very good results for our track cycling category even though we do not have the velodrome here in Sarawak.
“We do have a plan to build up velodrome here in Sarawak in the near future but as of now we will be sending our athletes out of Sarawak to train.
“Again, I believe even though SUKMA is only three months away from now, we can achieve some good results because we have started our preparations since two years ago,” he reiterated.
SUKMA has been brought forward two weeks earlier and will be held from September 16 to 24, in conjunction with the Malaysia Day celebration and Karim agreed that it is a good idea to bring it forward as it is a symbolic date on our country’s calendar.
“This makes SUKMA all the more significant since it is going to start right on Malaysia Day which makes this upcoming SUKMA exemplifies what it means to be the true ‘Sukan Malaysia’ or Malaysian Games,” he added.
