Selangor Sets 80-Gold Target For SUKMA 2026

SHAH ALAM, Feb 8 (Bernama) -- Selangor is targeting 80 gold medals at the 2026 Malaysia Games (Sukma) that the state will be hosting in August.

State Youth, Sports and Entrepreneurship Committee chairman Mohd Najwan Halimi said that athletics and swimming are two of the sports from which they hope to rake in the gold medals.

"Our preparations are coming along fine, and we are not only gearing up our SUKMA athletes but also those involved in Para SUKMA.

"We will try to ensure that the training and performance levels of the Para SUKMA athletes will be on par with that of our able-bodied athletes, because we want to ensure they (the para athletes) are not sidelined,” he said after the launch of the Selangor SUKAM & Para SUKMA 2026 Volunteer programme here today.

Also present was Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari. 

At the 2024 SUKMA in Sarawak, Selangor finished third in the overall standings with a haul of 181 medals - 56 golds, 64 silver and 61 bronzes. 

Najwan also said that preparations for hosting the Games have reached 80 per cent progress, with all venue upgrading processes having been completed ahead of schedule.

"We are now awaiting work to be completed for the upgrading of the Darul Ehsan Aquatics Centre in Section 13 and the Subang Shooting Range, which are the two biggest facilities that we are upgrading,” he said.

The 2026 SUKMA will be held from Aug 15-24, with the official opening ceremony set to be held at the Sepang International Circuit. The Selangor Para SUKMA will be from Sept 5-10.

A total of 474 events in 27 sports will be contested in nine districts, involving 52 competition venues. As for Para SUKMA, there will be 316 events from 10 sports contested in the districts of Petaling and Klang.

-- BERNAMA