THE postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to July next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic has given stakeholders more time to prepare their athletes to produce outstanding performances, said Youth and Sports Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican.

He said the National Sports Council (NSC), Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) also have more time to revise their athletes’ training programmes.

He added that the ministry, through the NSC, and in collaboration with the National Sports Institute (NSI) and National Sports Association (NSA), had recently held a 2020-2022 Training Programme Planning workshop.

“It was aimed at planning and rearranging the training programme cycle for each athlete in terms of physical fitness, mental strength, nutritional needs and injury management so that they can reach peak performance in Tokyo.

“This periodical training programme is divided into three cycles – micro, meso and macro – to enable athletes to achieve peak performance when needed,” he said when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks on the royal address by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in Dewan Rakyat today.

With 12 athletes having earned their tickets to the Olympics and 14 para athletes through to the Paralympics, Reezal Merican said the ministry has prepared specific programmes to ensure that more national athletes will qualify for both the Games.

Currently, 36 athletes, including 13 para athletes, are training hard to qualify for both the Games.

Among them are 2016 Rio Olympic silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (badminton mixed doubles); women’s 10m platform individual 2017 world champion and Rio Olympics 10m platform synchro silver medallist Cheong Jun Hoong and 2014 Commonwealth Games men’s 3m springboard gold medallist Ooi Tze Liang (diving); and national No. 1 golfer Gavin Kyle Green.

Reezal Merican also said the government will organise international-level tournaments to help national athletes earn valuable Olympic ranking or qualifying points.

Meanwhile, he said that after taking into account the impact of the pandemic on the sports sector, the ministry had tabled a special proposal aimed at stimulating the development of the sports industry to the Finance Ministry on May 27 for consideration under Budget 2021.

“Among the matters touched included a more flexible or low-interest financial loan scheme for sports industry operators like sports academies or coaches, sports goods or services businesses, facility operators, event management companies and technical services providers,” he said. – Bernama, August 5, 2020.