PARIS, Aug 11 — National track cyclist Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom has become Malaysia's last hope for adding to its medal tally at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 28-year-old from Muar, who will compete in the men's keirin quarter-finals at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome, is the sole Malaysian representative on the final day of the Games today.
Day 15 of the Olympics yesterday saw a string of unfortunate events for the Malaysian contingent, starting with the disqualification of the country's main gold medal hope Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang in the first round.
The Rio 2016 bronze medallist and Tokyo 2020 silver medallist, both in the keirin event, had his campaign cut short for passing the derny (an electric motorbike acting as a pacer) before it left the track during the first heat.
Malaysia's woes continued as Firdaus, racing in Heat Five, was relegated to the repechage for riding on the blue band and received a warning for moving down towards the inside of the track and forcing another competitor off the track
However, he made a strong comeback by winning the third repechage heat to redeem his earlier setback.
The two-time bronze medallist at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year will face a tough challenge from the likes of Jack Carlin of the United Kingdom, Matthew Glaetzer of Australia, and Japan's Kaiya Ota in today's quarter-final first heat.
The quarter-final round is scheduled for 11.29am (5.29pm in Malaysia), followed by the semi-finals an hour later and the final at 1.32pm (7.32pm in Malaysia).
Meanwhile, Malaysia's professional golfer Ashley Lau finished tied 55th out of 60 participants in the women's individual event at Le Golf National, recording five bogeys to end the fourth round with a six-over-par 78.
The 24-year-old shared the 55th position with Sara Kouskova from the Czech Republic, both posting a total score of 18-over-par 306.
So far, Malaysia has secured only two bronze medals, both from badminton, contributed by Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men's doubles) and Lee Zii Jia (men's singles).
— Bernama
