KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- National cycling legend M. Kumaresan has been appointed as the chairman of the Panel of Experts for the Olympic Sports Development Programme for cycling, effective this year.
The National Sports Council (NSC) said Kumaresan, the first Malaysian cyclist to qualify for the final of the point race at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, was appointed to help with talent development programmes at the state level.
"The panel, led by Kumaresan, aims to strengthen the ecosystem of cycling talent development in the country so that it is more comprehensive, performance-based and ably supported by experts of various disciplines,” it said in a statement today.
The NSC said the panel's main tasks will be to ensure athlete development is implemented systematically, starting from the talent search process through to the high-performance level; plan the development programme's direction; and monitor the performance of athletes and coaches.
The panel will also assist in the selection of athletes, coaches and training centres, while providing input on sports science and performance development.
The NSC said that others appointed to the panel include 2012 London Olympic cyclist Amir Mustafa Rusli, sprint coach Harnizam Basri and former national cyclist Mohd Harrif Saleh, who previously won three stages in the Le Tour de Langkawi race.
"Other representatives in the panel are Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) vice-president Firdaus Arshad, NSC's Mohd Izham Mohamad and the Education Ministry's Abdul Hadi Abdul Rahman,” it added.
Elaborating, the NSC said the programme would focus on four key initiatives: improving the Talent Search Programme and implementing Talent Camps and Specific Camps according to event disciplines to strengthen the technical, physical and tactical skills of athletes.
"The third initiative is overseas training and competition to expose the riders to a high-performance training environment and learn the best practices to raise their levels of competitiveness, and lastly to enhance the expertise of state coaches.
NSC director-general Jefri Ngadirin, in the same statement, said the combination of expertise in the Panel of Experts could strengthen the existing development ecosystem, and that all inputs would form the key foundation to producing more high-calibre cyclists.
"The NSC is confident that the appointment of the Panel of Experts 2026 will be a catalyst for the development of more sustainable and progressive state cycling talent, thus supporting the country’s aspirations to produce more world-class athletes,” he added.
-- BERNAMA
