KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 (Bernama) — The 2026 Malaysia Games (SUKMA) ended with several notable milestones, including improved performances by athletes who broke several Games and national records during the 10-day competition.
Held from Aug 15 to 24, the 22nd edition featured athletes from across the country competing in 37 sports and 368 events, serving as an important platform to evaluate the development of the country’s emerging sporting talent.
Athletics emerged as one of the strongest performers in terms of record-breaking feats, with several long-standing marks bettered.
Johor sprinter Danish Iftikhar Muhammad Roslee clocked 20.85s in the men’s 200m to rewrite the Games record. He went on to help Johor secure victory in the men’s 4x100m relay and also won the 100m title.
He finished the Games with three gold medals, emerging as one of Selangor SUKMA’s standout sprinting performers.
Several more Games records were rewritten, including those in the men’s 110m hurdles, women’s shot put, women’s 10,000m, women’s 20,000m race walk and men’s 4x100m relay.
The spread of record-breaking performances across different events suggests that improvements extend beyond sprint disciplines, reflecting positively on athlete development at the state level.
The swimming pool emerged as another major venue for record-breaking performances, as Selangor’s Eliza Tan Ai Shen twice broke the national record in the women’s 100m freestyle before setting a new mark of 56.78s.
The achievement made her the first Malaysian female swimmer to go under 57 seconds in the event, while she also secured the women’s 200m freestyle gold in 2:05.26s.
Eliza went on to break Games records in the 50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley, and was subsequently named SUKMA 2026’s Best Female Athlete.
Cheah Zen Hong of Pahang emerged as SUKMA 2026’s Best Male Athlete after a nine-gold, one-silver haul, which included two Games records in the 10m air pistol and 25m sport pistol.
Another significant achievement came in track cycling, with Terengganu’s women’s quartet setting a new national record of 4:42.878s in the team pursuit.
After improving their qualifying time to 4:46.824s, they went on to record a faster time in the final, demonstrating the significant progress made by Malaysia’s track cycling athletes.
While Games records can serve as a measure of performance gains at SUKMA level, national records provide a broader picture of athletes’ potential to progress to the international stage.
The record-breaking performances, beyond the medal tally, provide an important benchmark for sporting development at state and national levels.
The results demonstrate the positive development of young athletes at state level, providing an encouraging indication of their potential to compete for Malaysia at the SEA Games, Asian Games and on the international stage.
Farewell Selangor, see you in Kelantan in 2028.
— BERNAMA