PUTRAJAYA: Make us proud in Rio. That’s the message Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak gave to the Malaysian contingent participating in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Prime Minister believed that the national athletes “can achieve peak performance if their physical, mental and confidence are at the highest level.”

“I don’t want to put pressure on you all but I do hope that you will bring home gold medals and also other medals from the Games,” he said when he met some of the athletes here on Wednesday.

Saying that winning a gold medal has always been a national dream, the Prime Minister urged athletes to do well in their respective fields.

A gold medal winner at the Olympics will receive RM1mil from the Government and a permanent pension of RM5,000 a month.

Winners of the silver and bronze medals in the Games will receive a pension of RM3,000? and RM2,000.

A total of 32 Malaysians qualified to compete in the Games and will be leaving in stages.

The sailing team left on July 21 while the athletics team will be the last batch heading to Rio on Aug 2.-thestar