What The Paris 2024 Olympics Taught Us

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The Olympics has just ended. Personally, I am relieved because now we can stop hearing from all the instant sports experts that suddenly emerged from the woodwork with all kinds of comments, criticism, and complaints.
These “Professor Serba Tahu” (All-knowing professors) are experts in the most popular sport like the 100m sprint right down to the most obscure ones like curling. But of course, in Malaysia, everyone’s an expert in badminton, diving, and cycling.
I like sports and there are a few favourites that I follow like basketball and a little bit of football. Now I have to admit, during the Olympics, I like to watch a lot more but I don’t think I’m much of a “Professor Serba Tahu”.
For example, I had to Google “keirin cycling” to get ready before I could comfortably sit down to watch Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and Shah Firdaus Sahrom compete. But I enjoy it and it’s fun to see our Malaysian athletes competing on the world stage.
This last Olympics in Paris may not have been our country’s best performance as far as our medal tally is concerned, but it might just be the one where we Malaysians have really been so emotionally invested.
I also think that we as people can and have learned a lot from what has happened in Paris over the last few weeks. These are some of the learning moments, in my opinion.
Sportsmanship
There were several instances where I thought Malaysians could learn good sportsmanship during our Olympics journey.
The first has to be our Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh’s photo with Thai badminton player Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who won the silver medal. He had beaten Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the semifinal (Zii Jia went on to win the bronze medal). She also posted on her social media platforms a congratulatory message to Kunlavut.
Of course, she got a lot of flak for this from many Malaysians, saying that she is not loyal to Zii Jia and Malaysia for fanboying over the opponent, but I think these people are just being babies.
It is good to show respect to our opponents. Also, the minister was one of the first people to see Zii Jia after the semifinal loss and also to congratulate him when he won bronze.
Lee Zii Jia and Youth and Sports Minister Hannah YeohI love basketball and if I watch our national team play against, say Indonesia, I would be supporting Malaysia pretty hard but win or lose, once the game is over, I’m still going to try very hard to take selfies with the Indonesian players like Brandon Jawato and Kelly Purwanto.
If you love the game, you’re going to love a lot of other players from all over. It doesn’t mean you are betraying your country.
Another instance of good sportsmanship was when our second cyclist Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom lost in the final round of the keirin. The Japanese cyclist Shinji Nakano crashed into him and they both did not finish the race (along with another cyclist).
Muhammad Shah Firdaus SahromWhen this happened, Malaysians started attacking Nakano on social media until he felt the need to apologise and turn his account private.
This was not very sporting of Malaysians but Firdaus stepped in by posting photos of him and Nakano, saying that they have been friends for a long time and that physical contact and even crashes, are common in the sport of cycling.
He then told Malaysians to back off from cyberbullying his friend. Now that is good sportsmanship and Firdaus is definitely a good example for Malaysians.
Accepting defeat (fate!)
Last Ramadan, after breaking fast at a Korean barbecue restaurant, my wife and I went for teh tarik with some friends in Taman Tun Dr Ismail.
Lo and behold, I noticed a very familiar face sitting down waiting for his drink. He was dressed in a t-shirt and sarong, and obviously had just returned from the mosque or something.
It was Pocket Rocketman Azizulhasni.
I am not a fan of cycling but I am a fan of Azizulhasni because I find his story of rising to the top of his sport inspiring and motivational.
I debated whether to approach him and say hello or not but eventually, I decided not to bother him and we left after our teh tarik.
I had very high hopes that he would bring back our country’s first gold medal at the Olympics and so did the whole of Malaysia. Of course, this didn’t happen and we all saw, live on television, what had transpired.
Mohd Azizulhasni AwangOh, how it broke every single Malaysian’s heart, it was horrible.
But we all had his back. He had done so much representing Malaysia in cycling. Aside from the silver medal he won in the last Olympics, he also won numerous other titles and world championships and is considered one of the best in the world.
What happened in Paris is part of parcel of sports and no matter how disappointing, we have to learn to accept it.
Like what Azizulhasni said, “berat mata memandang, lagi berat bahu memikul” (only the ones who suffer will understand), and Malaysians understood.
Yeoh also said they would provide whatever support to assist him in overcoming the incident. No Malaysian blamed him for what happened and nobody gave any unnecessary criticism.
We saw that he had given his all and that was enough for us. This leads me to the next lesson.
Having hope
With everything that has happened, if we really look at how Malaysians performed in Paris, it should give us hope that we are improving.
If before, we were only banking on badminton to bring us medals at the Olympics, now we have elite athletes in many sports. We have young athletes competing at the highest level in the world in weightlifting, diving, cycling, and yes, badminton.
Initially, I was a bit critical of Lee losing in the semifinals. I guess I had brought along the baggage from when Lee Chong Wei was competing. Chong Wei had gone to so many Olympics and failed to win a gold medal, disappointing so many of us.
But then I started thinking a bit more. Zii Jia is still very young and this is his first Olympics. Winning bronze is actually a good achievement and it means he still has so much more potential to get better.
Then there is Pearly Tan and M Thinaah, our women’s badminton doubles pair. They lost in the semifinals and then lost in the third-placing match, failing to get a medal.
Pearly Tan and M ThinaahBut again, they are young and this is their first Olympics. Judging by their fighting spirit and never-say-die attitude when they played, I’m sure Malaysia can bank on them being even better in the future if they maintain their spirit.
It is the same with cyclist Firdaus and diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri, both young and competing at the highest level in their sports.
They have yet to win big medals or championships (although both have won medals at the Commonwealth Games), but they have what it takes to get there in the next few years.
Their consistency in always placing high among the elite in all the competitions they enter (including this Olympics) shows that they can.
Let’s not forget our weightlifter Mohamad Aniq Kasdan, who went to the Olympics under no hype or attention. When he entered the finals of the clean and jerk in Paris, I was surprised (and so were many of you, just admit it!).
Mohamad Aniq KasdanHe ended up in fourth place but it was not without a fight because in the last few rounds, he was even in contention for gold. He eventually lost the bronze by 1kg.
Aniq is only 22 years old. There will be more coming from him in the future.
So, there you go. The things we can learn in sports. It teaches us to be better human beings and overall, can contribute to us becoming a great nation.
So now, as the Olympics have come to an end, we should all avert our attention to the Paralympics.
Boy oh boy! This is where Malaysia really shines and we already have a real history of excellence as compared to the Olympics because our para-athletes going to Paris are defending three gold medals and two silvers.
Malaysia boleh! - Mkini
ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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