Kevin Lim Leong Keat (born 27 September 1976) is a Malaysian former sailor, who specialized in the

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

class. He bagged two silver medals at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

(1998 and 2002) and became the first-ever Malaysian athlete in history to compete in four editions of the Summer Olympic Games (1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008). Before retiring from the sport in late 2008, Lim trained most of his career at the Woollahra Sailing Club in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Lim became the first Malaysian sailor to compete at the Olympics, making his debut as a 20-year-old in

Atlanta 1996 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. There, he finished thirty-eighth overall in the inaugural

class with a net grade of 300. At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, Lim endured most of the races almost at the rear end of the field before finding his form to notch a second-place finish on the last leg, vaulting him to twenty-second overall with 145 net points. Lim's sailing career thrived in the 2002 season, when he managed to repeat a silver-medal finish from Bangkok four years earlier at the

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, trailing the host nation's

Kim Ho-kon Kim Ho-kon (; born 26 March 1951) is a South Korean Association football, football manager and former football player who played as a Defender (association football)#Sweeper (libero), sweeper or Defender (association football)#Full-back, right ...

by a seven-point deficit. Lim continued his Olympic quest for the third time with a twenty-fourth overall placement in

Athens 2004 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, accumulating a net grade of 220. Lim sought to bid for a golden finish at his fifth Asiad in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, but a yachting malfunction at the very start of the series slipped him off the podium to fourth in the

class. Unable to deliver a medal, Lim was excluded from the elite program for national athletes under the Malaysian Sports Council that forced him to skip the 2007 Worlds and pursue a full-time stint as a qualified doctor instead. Twelve years after competing in his maiden Games, Lim qualified for his fourth Malaysian team, as a 31-year-old, in the

class at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He finished fifteenth out of 52 sailors competing in the silver fleet to secure one of the ten quota places available at the Worlds six months earlier in

Terrigal, New South Wales Terrigal is a coastal town in the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, located east of Gosford on the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the local government area. History Terrigal was first settled in 1826 by European Settler John Gray, ...

. Amid a black flag disqualification on the opening leg, Lim put together a sensational effort to finish the ten-race series in thirty-eighth position with a net grade of 249.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Kevin 1976 births Living people Malaysian sportspeople of Chinese descent Malaysian male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors for Malaysia Sailors at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Laser Sailors at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Laser Sailors at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Laser Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Laser Asian Games medalists in sailing Sailors at the 1998 Asian Games Sailors at the 2002 Asian Games Sailors at the 2006 Asian Games People from Petaling Jaya Asian Games silver medalists for Malaysia Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Sportspeople from Selangor