Malaysia Fails To Achieve 40 Gold Medal Target & Finishes 7th At 2023 SEA Games
Vietnam is crowned champion with 355 medals overall, including 136 gold medals.
By Sadho Ram — 17 May 2023, 12:53 PM — Updated over 1 year ago
The 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games have concluded, with the Malaysian contingent placing seventh in the gold-medal tally, making this their worst outing in the biennial multi-sport event
Malaysia boasted the fifth biggest contingent of 677 athletes, with a target of 40 gold medals. However, the athletes could only bring home 34 golds at the end of the medal events yesterday, 16 May.
In total, the national contingent collected 176 medals — 34 gold, 45 silver, and 97 bronze — placing Malaysia in the seventh position, one down from its sixth position in the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam.
The only other time Malaysia placed sixth was in the 1983 SEA Games in Singapore.
However, Malaysia's total tally of medals won in the 2023 SEA Games is higher than the target of 141 medals, which was announced by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh prior to the games.
Malaysia's 2023 SEA Games outing is worst than its last performace
According to sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli, when Malaysia placed sixth in the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam, it was the worst performance by the country at the time since the games were introduced in 1959.
Now, after finishing seventh for the first time, the 2023 SEA Games are Malaysia's worst-ever showing, which has been described by New Straits Times as a "massive failure" that may not augur well for the future of Malaysian sports.
In contrast, the Singaporean contingent, with fewer athletes than Malaysia, outperformed our athletes by taking home 51 gold medals
Our neighbour across the Causeway also placed above Malaysia by taking the sixth position.
Meanwhile, the Philippines and host country Cambodia placed fifth and fourth, respectively.
The only countries placed below Malaysia are Myanmar, Laos, Brunei, and East Timor.
Vietnam was the champion with 355 medals, which included 136 gold, 105 silver, and 114 bronze, followed by Thailand with 108 gold, 95 silver, and 108 bronze, and Indonesia with 85 gold, 81 silver, and 109 bronze.
