By Amanda L
KUCHING, Aug 10: Sarawak is targeting 75 gold medals at the 22nd Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in Selangor this year, a haul the State believes could be enough to secure the overall championship.
Speaking to reporters after the handover ceremony of the Sarawak contingent flags for the Selangor Malaysia Games (SUKMA) and Para SUKMA 2026 here today, Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development (MYSED) Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the target was based on the State’s analysis of its medal prospects.
“We have made our analysis, and if we can get 75 gold medals, insya-Allah we can become champions. But if we can get more than that, even better,” he said.
He said Sarawak would not specify which sports were expected to deliver gold medals, as doing so could weaken the morale of teams or sports that were not named.
Instead, the minister said he hoped every sport would contribute a gold medal including those that might not be expected to win.
“I love surprises. Give us those gold medals, even though we did not expect you to deliver the gold,” he said.
Abdul Karim also stressed that gold medals would be the key factor in determining the overall SUKMA champion.
He said silver medals would only be taken into consideration if two contingents finished with the same number of gold medals.
“For SUKMA, whether we become overall champion or not, what is looked at is the gold first. If the gold is the same, then number one and number two will be decided by silver.
“The more gold medals, the better,” he said. — DayakDaily
