THE Road to London 2012 programme would have been deemed a success journey for the National Sports Council (NSC) after Malaysia returned with one silver and one bronze.But the NSC couldn't help feeling Malaysia should have walked a more glorious road.Although NSC didn't declare the target of producing Malaysia's first gold medal, its director general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong was quitely confident, based on the consistency of Lee Chong Wei.Chong Wei's silver medal effort and Pandelela Rinong's ground-breaking achievement of winning a bronze in the women's 10-metre platform is the second time since the 1996 Atlanta Games that Malaysia had bagged one silver and one bronze.But most importantly, a non-badminton event had earned a medal for the nation.NSC's funding of RM16 million on preparations for the London Games was worth every sen as Malaysia did well. But with additional efforts from certain athletes, the medal count could have been better.A total of 30 athletes qualified with Malaysia competing in eight sports -- archery, athletics, badminton, cycling, diving, fencing, sailing and shooting. The numbers could have increased if the national hockey team had not failed in the Olympic qualifiers in Dublin.Azizuhasni Awang gave his all in the final of the keirin event but had to accept the painful fact that size matters in cycling as he lined up with six-footers and eventually finished sixth.Men's doubles Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong also had the opportunity but if only they had the fighting spirit of Azizulhasni's, they could have been among the medallists.Zolkples had his faith that badminton was not the only sport the nation could depend on to win medals, and this was based on the world class performance by the divers and the cyclists.Pandelela and Leong Mun Yee failed in synchronised diving but the former made amends to capture a historic medal, which was also a first by a Malaysian female athlete in the Olympics.NSC had done the right thing by securing the services of Yang Zhuliang for another two years but that may not be enough as the current programme should be improved so that Malaysia can look forward to more medals in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.With Yeo Ken Nee bowing out, Bryan Nickson Lomas not expected to be at his best in the Rio Olympics and Mun Yee unlikely to compete in 2016, NSC will be turning to Zhuliang to unearth new talents.If Azizulhasni Awnang continues his progress, he should be at the height of his powers in 2016 and will be in with a chance for a medal.The scenario will be different with badminton due to the impending retirements of Chong Wei and Kien Keat-Boon Heong before the 2016 Olympics, and the next generation of players not in the same class as the China and South Korean shuttlers.Malaysia cannot rely on badminton alone for medals and NSC will have to be careful in utilising the RM50 million allocation by the government for the 2016 Olympics.NSC needs to do more in diving, cycling and archery as over-dependence on badminton may leave Malaysia in danger of returning empty-handed from the 2016 Olympics.NSC should take a re-look into certain sports that only made up the numbers in London, where on top of the list is athletics where high jumper Lee Hup Wei and 400m hurdler Noraseela Khalid were under-prepared and should not have gone to the Olympics in the first place.NSC may not be entirely at fault as its ongoing feud with the Malaysia Athletic Union (MAU) had made it difficult to support the development of the sport.However, the change in management in the MAU, where Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad has replaced Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim as the president, should lead to a better working relationship between the association and NSC. This should see the sport progressing.Sailing, shooting and fencing were the other sports that Malaysia fared badly. NSC should make sure the associations concerned, are sincere in their development programmes before providing the funds.NSC must also acknowledge the fact that it may not be possible to provide sufficient funding to all the sports, while corporations should be encouraged to contribute to sports development.