Prior to the
formation of the Federation of Malaya Olympic Council in 1953 and
its subsequent recognition by the IOC in 1954, some Malayans may
have participated in the Olympic Games, representing their countries
of origin, such as China and India. After receiving the recognition
of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1954, the Federation
of Malaya Olympic Council, as it was then known, sent a contingent
of 33 athletes from 6 sports to participate in the Olympic Games
in 1956 in Melbourne. Since then the Olympic Council of Malaysia,
as it is known since 1964, has been participating in all the Olympic
Games, except the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
The Olympic Contingent of the Federation of Malaya to the 1956
Melbourne Olympic Games comprised six athletes, two swimmers,
18 Hockey players, three Weightlifters and four shooters. There
was only one female athlete in the Contingent, Ms. Annie Choong,
who participated in Athletics. Amongst the Olympians were Koh Eng
Tong, the 1950 British Empire Weightlifting gold medallist in the
Featherweight Division and Tan Kim Bee, the silver medallist in
the Light Heavyweight Division. The Hockey team finished 9th out
of 12 teams. The Chef de Mission was Mr. Herman Marie de Souza (Hockey)
and the Flag Bearer was Tan Eng Bee (Weightlifting)
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Malaya
Contingent in 1956 Olympic Games, Melbourne
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The 1960 Rome Olympic Games Contingent, comprising nine athletes
from four sports, was the smallest Malaysian Contingent to any Olympic
Games to-date. The Contingent comprised three athletes, 2 swimmers,
2 shooters and 2 weightlifters. The Chef de Mission was Mr. Lim
Kee Seong (Football) and the Flag Bearer was Shahrudin Mohd. Ali
(Athletics).
Malaysia was formed in September 1964, with the entry of Sabah,
Sarawak and Singapore into the Federation of Malaya. The Malaysian
Contingent to the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games included athletes
from Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. The Contingent of 66 athletes
is still the largest contingent, which has participated in the Olympic
Games to-date. The Contingent comprised 12 athletes including one
woman, 7 swimmers of which three were women, 18 Hockey players,
2 boxers, 6 weightlifters, 7 shooters, 9 cyclists, one fencer, and
two each in Judo and wrestling. The Hockey team finished 9th.
M. Jegathesan, became the first Malaysian athlete to qualify for
the semi-finals in his event, the 200 M. In Heat 5 of the First
Round, he recorded a time of 20.9 sec., which is stands as the Malaysian
record today. In the Second Round, Jegathesan recorded a time of
21.4 sec. to qualify for the semi-finals. He recorded a time of
21.2 sec. in the semi-final, and was eliminated. The Chef de Mission
was Hon. Dato' Donald Stephens and the Flag Bearer was Kuda Ditta
(Athletics).
The Malaysian Contingent to the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games
comprised a total of 33 athletes from four sports. There were no
athletes from Singapore, as Singapore left Malaysia in 1965, to
become an independent country. The breakdown by sports was 11 athletes,
18 Hockey players, two athletes each from Cycling and Weightlifting.
There was no women athlete in the Contingent. The Hockey team finished
15th out of 16 teams.
M Jegathesan repeated his feat four years earlier, in Rome, by qualifying
for the semi-finals of the 200 M. He clocked times of 20.9 sec.
in the First Round, 21.0 sec. in the Second Round and 21.0 sec.
in the semi-finals. The Chef de Mission was Hon. Khaw Kai Boh (Basketball).
The Malaysian Contingent to the 1972 Munich Olympic Games
was 57 strong and is the second largest Olympic contingent to-date.
For the first time in Malaysian history, Football qualified for
the Olympic Games. Badminton was introduced as a demonstration sport
and three players participated. Athletics sent a team of 11 athletes
with two women, there were one male and one female swimmer, one
shooter and four cyclists. The Hockey team finished 8th out of 12
teams. The Football Team was drawn into Group A, with the teams
from West Germany, Morocco and the U.S.A. After losing to West Germany
by 3 goals to nil, winning its next match against U.S.A. with a
score of 3 goals to nil and finally losing to Morocco by 6 goals
to nil, the team was eliminated. The Chef de Mission was Hon. Dato'
Harun Idris (Football).
The Malaysian Contingent to the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games
was pretty small, 23 athletes in total. There were only three athletes,
one swimmer, two shooters and one cyclists. There was no woman athlete
in the Contingent. The Hockey team finished in 9th position. Athlete
Ishtiaq Mubarak became only the second Malaysian athlete to qualify
for the semi-finals in Athletics. In the 110 M. Hurdles, Ishtiaq
recorded a time of 14.27 sec. in Heat 2 to qualify for the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, he recorded a time of 14.21 sec. and was eliminated.
The Chef de Mission was H.H. Raja Azlan Shah (Hockey) and the Flag
Bearer was Ishtiaq Mubarak (Athletics).
Due to unavoidable circumstances, Malaysia did not participate in
the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. However, it should be placed
on record that the Football and the Hockey teams both qualified
to participate in the 1980 Olympic Games.
The 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games saw a rather small Malaysian
Contingent of only 20 athletes. The composition of the Contingent
was 16 Hockey players and one athlete each from Athletics, Swimming
(female), Shooting and Cycling. The Hockey team finished in 11th
position out of 12 teams. The Chef de Mission was Tunku Adnan bin
Tunku Besar Burhanuddin and the Flag Bearer was Sabiahmad Abd. Ahad
(Shooting).
For the second time in Malaysian Olympic history, the Hockey team
did not qualify for the Olympic Games. As such the Malaysian Olympic
Contingent to the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games was the smallest
since 1960. The team comprised of two athletes (one female), two
swimmers (one female), two cyclists, one shooter, and two women
Table Tennis players. Badminton and Taekwondo were the two demonstration
sports. Two Badminton players and four Taekwondo exponents from
Malaysia participated in the above two demonstration sports. The
Chef de Mission of the Contingent was HRH Prince Imran (Squash)
and the Flag Bearer was Nordin Jadi (Athletics).
Badminton was officially included as a medal sport for the first
time in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Expectations were
very high for the Malaysian Badminton players to win the first Olympic
medals for the country. This was more so, as Malaysia had four months
earlier, won the Thomas Cup, the World Team Badminton Championship,
after a lapse of 26 years.
The Badminton players did not disappoint their supporters and Malaysia
won its first Olympic medal, a bronze medal in the Men's Doubles
event, through brothers Rasif and Jalani Sidek. With Hockey qualifying
for the Olympic Games, the Contingent comprised 16 Hockey players,
one athlete each from Athletics, Swimming, Shooting and Cycling
and six Badminton players. Taekwondo was again a demonstration sport
and two female Taekwondo exponents participated in Barcelona. The
Hockey team finished in 9th position out of 12 teams. The Chef de
Mission was Tan Sri Elyas Omar (Badminton) and the Flag Bearer was
Rasif Sidek (Badminton).
The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games saw Malaysia participating
for the first time in Sailing and salom Canoeing, with one athlete
each. The Contingent comprised 4 athletes, 5 swimmers (one woman),
16 Hockey players, one boxer, one shooter and 7 Badminton players
(one woman player), making a total of 36 athletes. Badminton as
expected won a silver medal through the Men's Doubles pair of Cheah
Soon Kit and Yap Kin Hock and a bronze medal in the Men's Singles
through Rashid Sidek. The Hockey team finished in 11th position
out of 12 teams. The Chef de Mission was Hon. Dato' Dr. Abdullah
Fadzil Che Wan (Badminton) and the Flag Bearer was Nor Saiful Zaini,
the Captain of the Hockey Team. |