SEPANG, Aug 24 — Datuk Lee Chong Wei said today that he will try winning a gold for Malaysia in the Badminton World Championships next year after failing to land the top medal at the Rio Olympics.
“I will try one more last time for the World Championships next year. I don’t care how, but my mind still wants one more.
“Twice I have lost to Lin Dan and Chen Long. To say I’m not tired, that’s not true. I’m human as well, but I will play my best and give it my all,” he told a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after returning from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Lee, who had won silver at the Rio Olympics after losing to China's Chen Long in the men's singles, also dismissed rumours that he will be taking part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and said he was focusing now on clearing his mind and taking some time off.
“A lot of people asking me if you gonna take part in 2020. I haven’t thought about it, I’m going to relax and take my time off,” he added.
The world number one shuttler also took the opportunity to thank Malaysians for all their support despite him not clinching the gold at the Olympics.
“I want to thank all of you. Maybe I have lost the final, but there were many of you Malaysians who sent me Facebook messages.
“Some even sang Negaraku and posted on Facebook. For this I am very happy, that even when we lose, the fans still encourage us. This is a motivation to the athletes, keep it up,” Lee said.
When asked about him exchanging his jersey with China’s Lin Dan after the men’s singles semi-finals match, Lee said it was a mark of respect for his “greatest enemy”, both of whom might not be in the next Olympics in Tokyo.
“This is the last time we can meet in this competition. Maybe this is the last time we play at this stage.
“Maybe in Tokyo we cannot meet again. This is a memory. He has been the biggest enemy (to me),” he stressed.
Lee also took the opportunity to dismiss as fake the letter from Lin Dan to him that had been going viral.
“I have no idea. There is no such thing, maybe it was written by a reporter from China,” he said.
“You think we’re in love?” he added.
The other Olympic athletes that were at the press conference included divers Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong, badminton mixed doubles pair Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon, as well as the badminton men’s doubles pair, Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong.
Pandelela and Cheong had won silver together in the women’s synchronised 10m platform diving, while the other badminton doubles pairs had also won silver.
Pandelela said she will keep on training and improving her skills in order to put up a bigger challenge for the next Olympics.
“I will keep improving and working on my training and skills,” she told the press conference.
