KUALA LUMPUR: No Malaysian has ever won a gold medal in either the men's and women's marathon at the SEA Games.
Malaysia's best ever result was a bronze medal won by Muhaizar Mohamed at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.
So, the biggest challenge for Malaysians is to finish on the marathon podium at the 2027 SEA Games.
Although marathons or distance races are often held in this country, few Malaysians succeed in this event at the SEA Games.
Malaysia Athletics (MA) acting president Datuk Wan Hisham Wan Salleh said on Sunday a qualification event will be held at Putrajaya in April next year to select three men and three women for the SEA Games.
Hisham said MA will work together with Dirigo Events to prepare the marathon qualifying event.
"Putrajaya will also be the same venue for the SEA Games in September," said Hisham.
"Who will be eligible to take part in this qualification event? As announced earlier, the top five men and top women finishers from this year's KLSCM will be eligible to take part in this qualification event."
The top five men finishers are Yeow Ni Jia, Lai Yi Hng, Tan Huong Leong, Christoher Soosai and Syahrullah Safri, and the top five women are Esther Joy Chen Hong Li, Elaine Koon, Lai Wei Ling, Lim Ee Kim and Tiew Jing Jing.
Esther, who is a duathlon and triathlon athlete, said she was disappointed that the two events won't be held in the 2027 SEA Games.
"I hope I can qualify (for the marathon) as the qualifying time is two hours and 59 minutes for women, and I only clock three hours and five minutes in my first race in KLSCM.
"Running a marathon will be something different, something new, a new challenge, but then again, I don't know how to navigate through a lot of these qualification processes. So I'm just hoping for the best."
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd