Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s historic achievement clinching of the overall title at the just concluded Malaysia Para Games (Para Sukma) was unexpected and also a testament of hard work from all parties concerned.
Chef de mission Datuk Mansur Asun made the claim after Sabah with their total haul of 54 gold, 35 silver and 35 bronze medals ended Sarawak’s winning run of 13 consecutive titles since the Games was held in Johor back in 1994.
The defending champions only managed 50 gold, 47 silver and 49 bronze medals while in third place were Johor with 38 golds, 30 silvers and 25 bronzes.
“For Sabah to emerge as overall champions in the Para Sukma this year came as a total surprise to us as we only targeted 40 gold medals at the beginning.
“We knew it was not easy to be at the top of the medal tally with the fierce competition from the other contingents but I guess the training that we have been doing since 2018 has yielded results.
“I believe this success is the result of the hard work from all those involved including the State Youth and Sports Ministry, Pesron (Sabah Sports and Recreation Association for People with Disabilities) as well as all the parents for their support given to the athletes,” he said.
He also said all the medal winners are set to receive a windfall from the State government for their contribution to the success.
“As promised by the State government, all the athletes who have won medals at the Para Sukma Games will receive incentives for their achievement.
“For gold medal winners, athletes will receive an incentive of RM5,000, while silver medallists will receive RM1,500 and bronze medallists will receive RM800,” he added.
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