Which state ruled the SUKMA gold-medal table through time?

The SUKMA gold table shows clear eras of state dominance, with Sarawak returning to the top in 2024 before Selangor dominated its home edition in 2026.

How the numbers were calculated

PulseKita uses Majlis Sukan Negeri Selangor's historical SUKMA tables as the main long-run spine, with 2011 and 2012 cross-checked against independent historical tables because the state archive contains inconsistent labels for those editions. The series then continues with BERNAMA / official SUKMA result tables for 2022, 2024 and 2026. Overall SUKMA champion is determined primarily by gold medals, so this race uses gold rather than total medals. Event programmes changed between editions, so counts show each edition's performance rather than a fixed-size competition.

• Selangor won SUKMA 2026 with 101 golds, 50 ahead of Wilayah Persekutuan on 51.
• Sarawak won SUKMA 2024 with 76 golds, one ahead of Wilayah Persekutuan on 75.
• Johor led SUKMA 2022 with 77 golds.
• Terengganu led the reviewed 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2018 frames.
• Selangor dominated several editions from the mid-1990s through the 2000s.
• Host state and programme size changed across editions, so medal counts are not a fixed-denominator performance index.
• Historical-source caution: the 1986 Wilayah Persekutuan gold count differs across published retrospective tables. This series retains the Majlis Sukan Negeri Selangor value for consistency with the long-run spine and flags the discrepancy rather than silently mixing sources.
• Brunei appears as a guest contingent in some SUKMA editions, including 2026, but is excluded from this state race because the story compares Malaysian state and federal-territory contingents.