Sailor Kevin Lim will become the first Malaysian to compete in four consecutive Olympics, despite being snubbed by his country's officials.
Lim qualified for the Beijing Games by finishing 15th out of 52 sailors at the recent World Laser Championships in Terrigal, Australia.
A qualified doctor, the 34-year-old Lim was last year excluded from a National Sports Council programme for elite athletes because he failed to win a medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
Lim, who made his Olympic debut in 1996 in Atlanta, worked full-time and paid for his own training to prepare for the Australian event.