Rich Pickings For SEA Games’ Best Athlete Daniel

PUTRAJAYA: Swimmer Daniel Bego boosted his bank account by RM29,000 after becoming the biggest recipient of the Laos SEA Games incentive awards given out by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday.

Only the SEA Games gold medallists were rewarded and Daniel topped the list with his stunning five-gold performance in Vientiane.

Previous Malaysian male swimmers had never won more than two individual gold medals in a single Games but Daniel topped the list by coming out tops in the 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle as well as in the 100m butterfly.

Grand total: Daniel Bego shows off the trophy and the mock cheque for RM29,000 Tuesday.

The 20-year-old Sarawakian also secured an additional RM4,000 for setting four new SEA Games records.
The only event in which he did not lower the Games record was in the 200m butterfly.

Daniel, who also smashed the longest existing record in the 400m freestyle and was later named Best Male Athlete of the 25th edition of the Games, said the Asian and

Commonwealth Games would be his major goals this year.

“These are the two big meets which I hope to do well in. This is the first time I have qualified on merit for the Commonwealth and Asian Games. I have my A-level examinations some time in June and I plan to step up training after that,” said Daniel, who is also hotly tipped to win the Male Olympian of the Year award for the second successive time on Saturday.

A total of RM230,000 were handed out yesterday and aquatics, which accounted for 15 out of the 40 gold medals won by the Malaysian contingent, took the biggest share of the pie with a total of RM83,000.

Woman swimmer Siow Yi Ting was the second biggest individual recipient with RM18,000 for winning three gold medals in new SEA Games record times.

Fellow woman swimmer Khoo Cai Lin completed the list for swimming with RM6,000 while divers Yeoh Ken Nee, Bryan Nickson Lomas, Pandelela Rinong, Leong Mun Yee and Wendy Ng Yan Yee collectively earned RM30,000.

The national football team, who ended a 20-year gold medal drought in Laos, received RM20,000.

Completing the list were athletics (RM32,000), karate (RM25,000), pencak silat (RM20,000), wushu (RM15,000), badminton (RM15,000), boxing (RM10,000), taekwondo (RM5,000) and archery (RM5,000).