KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — “Baton has been passed. Off to you my bro” was the motivating message from national track cyclist Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang to heir apparent Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, at the end of their Paris Olympics campaign.
Azizulhasni, known as the Pocket Rocketman, hopes the 28-year-old Shah Firdaus from Muar, Johor, will start preparing for the Los Angeles Olympics (LA28), even though it may seem too early.
He believes greater things are in store for Shah Firdaus at LA28 after his successful entry into the keirin final at Paris 2024.
“Congratulations my bro Shah Firdaus... In the final 100m of the race (in Paris), Shah came with a convincing speed good enough for at least a bronze medal, but there was a crash in the last corner that caused him to fall.
“It was a performance we should all be proud of, and I hope Shah will continue to work hard to improve his performance over time to remain excellent on the international stage,” he said on Instagram today.
Bernama yesterday reported Azizulhasni might not join LA28 as he promised his family that Paris 2024 would be his last Olympics, as he had open heart surgery in April 2022.
The 36-year-old cyclist ended his Paris 2024 campaign on a sad note after he was disqualified in the first round of the keirin event on August 10 for overtaking the derny.
Azizulhasni is the country’s most successful track cyclist, having won the keirin gold at the 2017 World Championships and was the first Malaysian cyclist to win an Olympic medal, securing bronze at Rio 2016 and a silver at Tokyo 2020 in the keirin event
Shah Firdaus raised hopes of securing Malaysia’s first-ever Olympics gold by placing himself in third spot with about 25m left in the race, but was nudged by Japan’s Shinji Nakano, causing him and Great Britain’s Jack Carlin to fall.
Despite sustaining minor injuries after being dragged several metres, the cyclist got up and pushed his bike to the finish line, finishing in fourth.
However, he was relegated to sixth place for entering the Japanese cyclist’s path.
— Bernama
