Lee Hup Wei – Photo Credit: Flickr

National high jumper Lee Hup Wei received good news that his coach has been allowed to accompany him to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. 

Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) president Datuk S M Muthu confirmed that Hup Wei’s coach, Aleksandar Gasparyan, will join him to go to Tokyo, in addition to the team manager who had been listed previously. “We have gotten confirmation from the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) that the application to bring the coach was approved. We hope that this will help him perform better. We would like to thank OCM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria and secretary-general Mohd Nazifuddin Najib for granting the approval to bring the coach along,” he told Bernama.

MAF had previously been criticised for sending only team manager S Govindarajoo for the world’s premier sporting event and for not listing Aleksandar.

Hup Wei was the 2007 Asian champion and he qualified for the Tokyo Games after being ranked 23rd in the World Athletics with 1,235 points. This allows Malaysia to have a representative in the men’s high jump for four consecutive Olympics since Beijing 2008.

It will be his third Olympics appearance after Beijing 2008 and London 2012.