First Malaysian to qualify for four Olympics

by Lim Teik Huat, The Star Online on 14 Feb 2008 To make four consecutive appearances in the Olympics is not only rare but a massive achievement. And that's exactly what sailor Kevin Lim has done. Come August, he will make history as the first Malaysian athlete to compete in four Olympics in Beijing after making the cut from the Laser World Championships, which ended in Terrigal, Australia, yesterday.

Lim earned Malaysia a quota spot in the event in Beijing after finishing 15th out of 52 sailors competing in the silver fleet. He chalked up his best finish by taking fifth spot in the ninth race and accumulated a total of 154 points from 10 races altogether. The final two races were cancelled yesterday due to rough sea conditions caused by strong winds.

Australian Tom Slingsby capitalised on the local conditions to win four out of the 10 races and in the process retain his world title. Lim's position was unchanged, securing for Malaysia one of the 10 quota spots remaining in the final Olympic qualifying event.

The other countries who earned the quota spots yesterday were Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Venezuela, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Russia, Hungary and Guatemala. Thirty spots, including one for hosts China, had been decided at the World Championships in Portugal in July last year. A nation is only allowed to have one competitor for each of the 11 sailing classes in the Olympics.

And Lim’s decision to train on his own has certainly paid dividends with a fourth Olympics outing now within his grasp. A qualified doctor, the 34-year-old juggled between his training and work commitments in Sydney despite the lack of full support. He was excluded from the elite programme for national athletes under the National Sports Council (NSC) after failing to deliver a medal in the Doha Asian Games last year.

That forced the two-time Asian Games silver medallist to skip the first qualifying event last year and he also had to take up full-time employment to save money to enable him to prepare for this year’s world meet. Lim made his Olympics debut in Atlanta in 1996. He went on to qualify for two successive editions in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004).

Previous three-time Malaysian Olympians are Datuk M. Jegathesan and Ishtiaq Mubarak (athletics), Lim Keng Liat (swimming) and Mirnawan Nawawi (hockey).