By Ahmad Nazrin Syahmi Mohamad Arif
KUCHING, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- The Johor athletics squad can give themselves a pat on the back after holding off Selangor to retain the overall title at the 2024 Malaysia Games (SUKMA).
On the final day of the athletics competition at the Sarawak Stadium here today, Johor picked up two more gold medals through Umar Osman and S. Geetha in the men’s and women’s 800 metres (m) to top the medal chart with nine golds, five silvers and four bronzes.
Selangor have a haul of eight golds, five silvers and four bronzes while the Federal Territories finished third with six golds, four silvers and two bronzes.
Johor athletics squad coordinator S. Ananda Raja said not only did they manage to surpass their target of five gold medals, they also repeated the nine-gold feat they achieved at the previous edition in Kuala Lumpur.
“In terms of medal achievement, of course, we are extremely satisfied. What is more heartening is that we also set three new records in the men’s 4x400m, men’s 400m and men’s 800m. The sweetest of them all was seeing Umar break the 32-year-old men’s 800m record.
“This time, we brought 31 athletes, 24 of whom are still eligible for SUKMA 2026. So, we need to have continuity and this is what we have been doing for a long time. This means that in our 2022 team, we already had development athletes for the 2206 edition and so on,” he said.
Umar helped Johor bag three gold medal and set three new SUKMA records in the men’s 400m (46.78s), 800m (51.19s) and 4x400m (3:12.35s), apart from another gold medal in the 4x400m mixed relay.
Apart from the four gold medals delivered by Umar, Johor also snatched the men’s 100m gold medal courtesy of 17-year-old Danish Iftikhar Muhammad Roslee, who was crowned the SUKMA 2024 speed king.
The other four golds came from Nurkhaleesa Yasmin Awang (women’s long jump), Nur Shaqirah Cik Mat Kilau (women’s 400m hurdles) and Geetha (women’s 800m and 1,500m).
Meanwhile, the Sarawak athletics team finished fourth in the medal standings with five golds (all field events).
-- BERNAMA
