BANGKOK: Young athletes played a central role in driving Malaysia’s success at the Thailand SEA Games.
Of the 412 Malaysian competitors aged under 21, 178 rose to the podium, delivering a 43 per cent medal success rate over the course of the Games.
National Sports Council (MSN) director-general Jefri Ngadirin said the achievement showed that long-term investment in the development of young athletes is beginning to yield results.
“The encouraging performances of these young athletes also serve as an important indicator of Malaysia’s readiness as host of the 2027 SEA Games, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Penang and Johor.
“This percentage reflects the courage and maturity of our young athletes to compete on the big stage, despite the pressures of a major multi-sport event,” he said at the national contingent’s performance summary press conference yesterday.
He added that athletes making their SEA Games debut also made significant contributions, with 255 out of 646 debutants winning medals — a success rate of 39 per cent, including gold, silver and bronze.
From the women’s performance perspective, 244 out of 499 Malaysian female athletes reached the podium, recording a 49 per cent success rate, reflecting a notable increase in both participation and quality among Malaysia’s women athletes.
Jefri also revealed that the number of sports contributing medals increased to 28 disciplines at this edition in Thailand, compared to 15 sports at the Cambodia SEA Games in 2023.
“This increase means that more sports are now capable of contributing gold medals to the national tally, thereby strengthening Malaysia’s overall performance structure.
“At this edition, Malaysia won 57 gold medals from 28 sports, the highest achievement to date,” he said.
By comparison, he noted that Malaysia previously recorded 26 sports contributing gold medals at the 2019 Philippines SEA Games, 18 sports at the 2007 Thailand SEA Games, 19 sports at the 2015 Singapore SEA Games and 18 sports at the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games.
He stressed that the overall achievement at the Thailand SEA Games 2025 is a positive sign for the direction of national sports development, particularly in strengthening the talent pipeline and expanding medal dominance ahead of hosting the 2027 SEA Games.
