As usual, the likes of Noraseela Khalid (400m hurdles), Lo Choon Sieng (20km walk), Lee Hup Wei (high jump), Tan Song Hwa (hammer) and Roslinda Samsu (pole vault) delivered the goods. The surprise gold No. 6 came from the unsung men’s 4x400m relay team.
They defied the odds to run the race of their lives and stun the everyone at the Jakabaring Athletics Stadium to clinch the unexpected gold on Monday.
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| Shock of the Games: (from left) S. Kannathasan, Mohd Yunus Lasaleh, P. Yuvaraaj and Schzuan Ahmad Rosely celebrating after winning the 4x400m relay gold on Monday. |
And how were they treated? They were unceremoniously packed off the very next day on the afternoon flight back home to Malaysia without receiving their medals.
The shabby manner in which they were treated outraged the other athletes here and Noraseela did not mince her words in lambasting MAAU for their despicable attitude.
It is obvious that MAAU did not expect the team to make the podium, let alone win the gold medal. It’s no secret that the golden quartet of P. Yuvaraaj, S. Kannathasan, Schzuan Ahmad Rosely and Mohd Yunus Lasaleh had little support in the upper echelons of the MAAU judging by how they were initially not given the green light to compete in the Games.
It took the concerted efforts of team manager Rajemah Sheikh Ahmad and their coach, S. Jayabalan for the quartet to be included as a late afterthought. Even then, they only arrived in Palembang 48 hours before their event.
Rajemah had entered their names even while Jayabalan fought their case back home until the powers-that-be in the MAAU relented.
Even then, Jayabalan had to stay home and the quartet arrived without proper accreditation and fanfare.
But their determination to prove their worth eventually saw them run a race they will never forget for the rest of their lives.
As Schzuan put it: “No one gave us a ghost of a chance and we wanted to prove them wrong.”
Except for Yuvaraaj, the other three had zero SEA Games experience and it was truly a dream debut as the no-hopers galloped to a famous victory.
The MAAU are supposed to be responsible for the welfare of their athletes, to help, encourage and guide them to reach greater heights.
But we have seen nothing of this from MAAU in recent years.
All that time has been spent bickering over who should run the association rather than administering the sport. This is not the first time MAAU have courted controversy.
From missed doping tests to athletes quitting in disgust, irresponsible coaches and favouritism – MAAU have had them all. Little wonder that athletics is in the doldrums with hardly any new talent breaking through.
It’s time for all this nonsense to stop if Malaysian athletics is to return to its former glory.
Noraseela, the most senior athlete in the team, vented her frustration at how athletes were becoming pawns and victims in the power struggle in the MAAU.
“All this is destroying the sport. I really hope our president (Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim) will do something fast to stop the rot,” said the 32-year-old Noraseela.
It is fortunate that the old reliables were able to deliver the requisite six gold medals to prevent a disastrous campaign. Roslinda rewrote the Games record and shot-putter Adi Aliffudin setting a new national record en route to a silver medal.
There were disappointments too, in particular Rayzam Shah and Mohd RobaniHassan, who could only finish second and third in the 110m hurdles.
But the biggest flop was sprinter Norjannah Hafiszah. Not only did she finish dead last in the women’s 100m final and the 200m heats, she also cost Malaysia a medal in the 4x100m relay.
One wonders why she continues to be picked under Category A while the real heroes like the men’s 4x440m quartet are treated like dirt?
But then this is the MAAU we are talking about.
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