MALAYSIAN GYMNASTICS 2009

The way I see it, gymnastics is always improving. Each new stage it reaches, absorbs what it has achieved before and casts out everything that holds it back. In this sport we sometimes see periods of time when there are sharp qualitative changes and progress races ahead. These burst are usually connected with the introduction of more intricate routines. In modern sport and especially gymnastics intricacy is the most important of the criteria of skill.

Recently there have been two big qualitative advances. There were many very good contestants in 1998 Commonwealth Games, but undoubtedly it was Au Li Yen the first Malaysian woman artistic gymnast who qualified for the Sydney Olympic Games.
Not only women’s but also men’s gymnastics were given a fresh impetus.

The next big leap forward came several years later. This new stage began at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games when Ng Shu Wai represented Malaysia. The most difficult movements were already commonplace not only by the leaders but also by most of the gymnasts.

Shu Wai won silver at Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. The “Shu Wai phenomenon” is a distinctive synthesis of flexibility, strength, and free movements, plus his mood, character and of course inspiration without which there can be no success.

I still believe that Malaysian gymnastics will performed well again in the near future. However there is minus here, the back up pool is still raw. But there is a plus too. The schools are beginning a high performance program for gymnastics, where talents could be detected and developed to a world class gymnast. Incidentally this is lacking in Malaysia. On the other hand our gymnasts lack is stability, which is a factor of no small importance today in the “battle of nerves”

And yet medals and prizes are only one side of gymnastics. Champions come and go but the beauty and joy they bring to the spectators remain.