20,000 throng Labuan Sea Complex for National Sports Day
LABUAN: The 4th National Sports Day (HSN) has formed a sea of people, with more than 20,000 participants and spectators thronging Labuan International Sea Complex Saturday morning.
The island’s largest sporting event ever, held simultaneously nationwide, has attracted not only local sports goers, but also those from neighbouring Brunei and Sabah.
Twenty-three sports events under 10 segments had been lined up to cater to a broad spectrum of people on the island.
Labuan Corporation (LC) deputy chief executive officer Rithuan Ismail said the national sports day proved that sports united the people.
“It is heartwarming and touched by the sporting spirit and unity shown by the Labuan folks today, it is a manifestation of the people towards the importance of a healthy lifestyle,” he said to reporters after flagging-off the 30KM HSN Fun Ride and 7KM HSN Run at the LISC here yesterday.
Labuan Youth and Sports Department director Hazzan Dahari said a total of 526 cyclists including from Brunei, Tawau and Sabah’s west-coast took part in the fun ride and 453 joined the run.
“However, we received unexpected turn out of participants for the HSN Fun Walk and Run. It is often difficult to record actual crowd numbers for very large events like today, particularly if there are not contained in a single venue, but still phenomenal numbers,” he said.
He said the registration of the participants were done manually (direct registration exercise) and online.
“We expect the number to surge over the next few days as the nineday Karnival Meriahnya Labuan is expected to pull crowds to the island.
“It is thought to be the largest crowd ever to witness a single day sports event,” Hazzan said.
A random check found the road heading towards the LISC thronged with people for the run, walk and cycling events, while the parking lots of Labuan International Lawn Bawl was fully occupied by hawkers.
Young and senior athletes from Labuan who contributed medals to the federal territory contingent in the recent Sukma and made names internationally also received appreciation at the annual sports event.
Labuan Amanah coordinator Datuk Seri Amir Hussien said the sports programmes are for all to be united regardless of political ideology.
“Unity should begin with individuals and every Malaysian should strengthen it by speaking in one voice that represents all Malaysians.
“We need to be cautious because unity can be a fragile thread that breaks easily or a powerful anchor that holds the nation steady - the choice is ours,” he said.