The bell for the Paris Olympics 2024 has already been rung. With less than 60 days to go before the grandest sports gala in the world, there is an air of excitement in many nations, with Malaysia being no different. After all, the Southeast Asian nation is a veteran at the sports meet. They have had representatives at the Olympics in almost every edition since their debut in 1956 (when it was held in Melbourne, Australia). The only exception? The 1980 Olympics (in Moscow, Russia). But why didn’t they participate that year?
In 1980, the United States of America (USA) boycotted the Olympic Games held in Russia as a protest against the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. A number of countries stood in solidarity with Afghanistan at that point and refrained from partaking in the quadrennial sports meet. Malaysia was a member of that band.
Here’s a fun fact – as a response to this mass boycott in 1980, the Soviet Union and its satellite states refused to participate in the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles, USA.
Now that we’re done with our brief history lesson, allow us to break your yawns. Here’s a look at Malaysia’s track record at the Olympic Games and the squad of Malaysian athletes who will represent the Southeast Asian country at the Paris Olympics 2024, having cleared the criteria for qualifications. We have also listed the top contenders who are most likely to end up on the podium.
A peek into Malaysia’s history at the Olympic Games
Since 1956, Malaysia has been a regular attendee at the Olympic Games. This translates to a total of 16 appearances at the marquee sports meet.
Malaysian shuttlers Razif Sidek and Jalani Sidek, members of the hallowed Sidek family, won Malaysia’s first-ever medal at the Olympic Games when they clinched the bronze at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Meanwhile, legendary badminton player Lee Chong Wei remains the most successful Malaysian athlete in the games’ history with three silver medals to his name (2008, 2012 and 2016).
In total, the nation has won 13 medals — eight silver and five bronze — at the Olympics. This also makes Malaysia the country that has won the most medals without earning a gold.
Here are the athletes who will represent Malaysia at the Paris Olympics 2024
As of June 2024, a total of 18 athletes have been confirmed to represent Malaysia at the Paris Olympics 2024. The number sees a drastic fall from the Tokyo Olympics held three years back which saw a Malaysian contingent of 30 athletes. In fact, it is going to be Malaysia’s smallest contingent in 36 years (nine athletes represented the nation at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea).
However, a large contingent cannot guarantee a good performance. Some of the Malaysian athletes who will head to Paris this year are superstars in their respective fields and will represent the Southeast Asian nation in over 30 venues at the Paris Olympics 2024. Here is a look at all of them:
Archery
Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi (women’s individual)
Badminton
Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles)
Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles)
Aaron Chia (men’s doubles)
Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles)
Pearly Tan (women’s doubles)
Thinaah Muralitharan (women’s doubles)
Cheng Tang Jie (mixed doubles)
Toh Ee Wei (mixed doubles)
Cycling
Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir (women’s road race)
Azizulhasni Awang (men’s sprint, men’s keirin)
Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom (men’s sprint, men’s keirin)
Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohamad Asri (women’s sprint, women’s keirin)
Diving
Bertrand Rhodict-Lises (men’s 10 m platform)
Sailing
Khairulnizam Afendy (men’s ILCA7)
Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif (women’s ILCA6)
Shooting
Johnathan Wong (men’s 10 m air pistol)
Weightlifting
Aniq Kasdan (men’s -61 kg)
Which Malaysian athletes are most likely to win medals at the Paris Olympics 2024?
Aaron Chia
Sport: Badminton
Let us kick-start our list of prospective medal-winning Malaysian athletes at the Paris Olympics 2024 with Aaron Chia. After Lee Chong Wei, if anyone has been able to put the Southeast Asian nation back on the map of international badminton, it is this guy.
Teaming up with compatriot Soh Wooi Yik, Chia has become a force to be reckoned with in the men’s doubles category. They won the men’s doubles title at the 2022 World Championships, and in the process, became the first world champions from Malaysia.
While he won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Chia will be hoping that his partnership with Yik yields better results this year. Together, the duo can become the first-ever Malaysian gold medalists at the Olympic Games. While the hopes of an entire nation rest on Chia’s shoulders, only time will tell if he can live up to the expectations.
Soh Wooi Yik
Sport: Badminton
We cannot talk about Aaron Chia without mentioning Soh Wooi Yik as they are practically like two arms of a single body!
The hallowed partnership has yielded great dividends in the past. Their notable achievements include:
- Winning the 2022 World Championships
- Winning the gold medal at the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games
- Winning the silver medal at the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships
- Winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021
- Winning the bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- Reaching the second spot on the BWF men’s doubles rankings (in January 2023)
A former world champion, Yik will be focused on turning his bronze medal into a gold one at the Paris Olympics 2024. Alongside Chia, he has the best chance of opening Malaysia’s gold medal tally at the marquee quadrennial event.
Lee Zii Jia
Sport: Badminton
In badminton, while the pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik are being looked at as prospective medal-winning Malaysian athletes at the Paris Olympics 2024 in the men’s doubles category, the onus is largely on Lee Zii Jia when it comes to the singles division.
Widely regarded as one of the best Malaysian shuttlers of all time, Jia holds the distinction of winning the prestigious All England Open in 2021, defeating Viktor Axelsen in the final. He also won the gold medal at the 2019 SEA Games and the 2022 Asian Championships.
Leading up to the Paris Olympics in July, Jia has been on a decent run of form. In May, he won the Thailand Open and was the runner-up to Axelsen at the Malaysia Masters later that month. His purple patch will be a key factor in helping him clinch an Olympic medal in 2024. Will he be able to go the distance and secure the country’s first-ever gold? We will have to wait and see.
Azizulhasni Awang
Sport: Cycling
Nicknamed ‘The Pocket Rocketman’, Azizulhasni Awang will be one of the key Malaysian athletes to watch out for at the Paris Olympics 2024.
A former world champion and a multi-Olympic medallist, Awang holds the record for being the only Malaysian cyclist to win an Olympic medal. For context, his first Olympic honour was a bronze medal in the individual keirin category at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Four years later, he bettered his mark at the marquee sports meet by securing a silver medal in the same category.
Will he be able to continue his upward trajectory and win the coveted gold medal in Paris later this year? For the sake of Malaysia, we most definitely hope so!
Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif
Sport: Sailing
Last but not least in our list of probable Malaysian medal-winning athletes at the Paris Olympics 2024 is Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif.
A veteran in the world of sailing, Latif has enjoyed a decorated career. She has won two gold medals at the SEA Games (both in 2015) and one at the Asian Games (in 2023).
The current Asian sailing champion in the women’s ILCA6 category has already had a taste of the Olympic Games. She participated in the quadrennial sports meet twice — the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. On both occasions, she entered the women’s Laser Radial category.
It is often said that ‘third time’s the charm’. Now that she has entered a different category, one she has tasted success in, Latif and all Malaysians will be hoping for the age-old saying to come true.
(Main Image Credits: Aaron Chia Teng Fong 谢定峰/Instagram and Lee Zii Jia 李梓嘉/Instagram; Featured Image Credits: Aaron Chia Teng Fong 谢定峰/Instagram)
This article first appeared here
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Uddipta writes about sports and watches besides occasionally venturing into the world of automobiles and technology. He was associated with the Indian Express in the capacity of a sub-editor at their Lifestyle desk. A journalism and mass communication student from Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, Uddipta devotes most of his leisure time to photography and filmmaking. He has contributed photographs to Vogue Italia and several exhibits, and has directed award-winning short films screened at film festivals in India and abroad.
