KUALA LUMPUR – Young national sprinter Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi is capable of giving a tough fight in Division 1 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships in the United States if given a chance to compete.
Former national athlete Liew Wai Hon, 55, who is based in the US as an educator in Minnesota, said his confidence was based on the current performance of the Ipoh-born athlete.
“I am confident that if Azeem goes there (to the US), he can surely join Division 1 because of the 10.09s he clocked, which is amazing. Anyway, that division is specifically for athletes with world-class performances.
"He (Azeem) also has the potential to reach the final or be in the top eight in the US, but he will need a very high level of dedication to reach the top,” he said when met after the Bernama TV talk show, The Nation, today.
Division 1 is specifically for top-notch athletes, with professional athletes making up the biggest group in this category, while Division 2 has several good athletes, with a handful capable of competing against the lower-ranked athletes in the top tier.
Azeem broke the national men’s 100m record when he clocked 10.09s at the Under-20 World Athletics Championships in Cali, Colombia recently to erase the old mark of 10.18s set by former Southeast Asia sprint champion Khairul Hafiz Jantan.
According to Wai Hon, the National Sports Council (NSC) had contacted him last month to get the latest information on universities in the US, such as the University of Houston or Auburn University, which had offered Azeem a place to study.
He explained that he held an online discussion with the NSC, Azeem, his parents and coach Muhammad Amir Izwan Tan Abdullah to discuss universities capable of giving the athlete long-term benefits.
“I am not an agent of the universities, but I feel that Azeem needs sufficient time to familiarise himself with the new lifestyle there.
“Maybe in a year or two, he would be able to familiarise himself. But, as an amateur athlete, he cannot accept any financial sponsorship because that will see him lose his student status, and instead be known as a professional athlete,” he said.
Wai Hon, who was an alumni student athlete at the University of Minnesota in the 80s, had also assisted another national athlete, Shereen Samson Vallabouy, get an offer to study at Winona State University. – Bernama, September 12, 2022
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