Top national swimmer Daniel Bego and the national women's badminton team were named the Best Male and Female Olympians of 2009, respectively, at the Olympian Night held at Wisma OCM, Saturday.
Daniel, 20, who hails from Kuching, was selected for having won five gold medals and having rewritten four records, in the 100m, 200m, 400m freestyle and 100m butterfly, at the 25th SEA Games in Laos last month.
He won the fifth gold in the 200m butterfly event but fell short of rewriting the record.
This is Daniel's second Olympian award. He won the first one in 2007 after having qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in three events and having bagged two golds, in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle, as well as having set new records at the Korat SEA Games in 2007.
"I am very happy with my achievement. After this, my focus is on winning medals at this year's Asian Games (in Guangzhao, China) and Commonwealth Games (in New Delhi, India)," he said after the awards presentation.
The women's badminton team won the gold medal after beating Indonesia in the final at the 25th SEA Games in Laos, thus ending a 34-year gold drought for the country in the event.
The 10-member team comprises singles players Wong Mew Choo, Lydia Cheah, Tee Jing Yi, Sannatasah Saniru and doubles players Chong Sook Chin, Woon Khe Wei, Goh Liu Ying, Ng Hui Lin, Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty.
Both Daniel and the women's badminton team received a trophy and RM10,000 cash each from Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafar.
Meanwhile, OCM deputy president Datuk Dr M. Jegathesan was awarded the International Olympic Council (IOC) Trophy "Sport and the Fight against Doping".
hello mr author,
ReplyDeleteslight correction,daniel bego hails from Miri,sarawak and not kuching,sarawak :)