KUALA LUMPUR: Former national swimming queen Nurul Huda Abdullah has been appointed as Malaysia’s chef de mission (CDM) to the SEA Games in Thailand from Dec 9-20.

Nurul, who was recently elected Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) vice president, will be assisted by three deputy CDM namely Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh, former sprint ace Nazmizan Muhammad and former hockey player Jivan Mohan.

"The selection of the chef de mission and deputy chefs de mission was made in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Sports Council to ensure the most capable and experienced leaders guide the Malaysian Contingent to success,” according to a statement issued by OCM on July 7 (Monday).

Nurul represented Malaysia at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and holds the record for the most medals won by a Malaysian athlete at the SEA Games with an incredible total of 32 medals, comprising 22 gold, 8 silver and 2 bronze across three consecutive editions in 1985, 1987 and 1989.

She remains the first and only Malaysian female swimmer to have won a medal at the Asian Games, with an outstanding achievement of two silver and two bronze medals at the 10th Asian Games in Seoul 1986.

Nurul followed the footsteps of former track queen Datuk Marina Chin, who served as CDM at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games. - Bernama