KUALA LUMPUR: National swimmer Welson Sim booked a ticket to the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in Brazil 2016 after splashing his way to the 400m Freestyle event gold at the Singapura Finance National Age Group Championship in Singapore, yesterday.
Welson earned his ticket on merit after clocking 3:50.33 seconds to beat the qualifying time of 3:50.44s set by the Olympic Council of Malaysia.
The last time a Malaysian swimmer qualified for the Olympics was 12 years ago when Lim Keng Liat qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Other National athletes who have qualified for the Olympics are Pandelela Rinong, Cheong Jun Hoong, Wendy Ng Yan Yee, Ooi Tze Liang, Nur Dhabitah Sabri (all in diving), Azizulhasni Awang, Fatehah Mustapa (cycling), Jonathan Wong (shooting), Khairul Anuar Mohamad (archery) and two sailors.
The Malaysian Yachting Association (MYA) has yet to name the two sailors.
– BERNAMA