KUALA LUMPUR – National cyclist Datuk Azizulhasni Awang may have not won the gold medal for Malaysia in the Track cycling keirin event, but he has made the nation proud with his outstanding performance at the Tokyo Olympics.
Azizulhasni had to settle for the silver medal after finishing second to defending champion Jason Kerry of Britain and ahead of Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen today.
Although, Azizulhasni’s target was the gold medal, his silver medal is a one-up from his previous achievement at the Rio 2016 Olympics where he won a bronze medal.
Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria said that Azizulhasni’s silver medal is something for all Malaysians to celebrate.
“He rose to the occasion, but luck and fate were not on his side today. He gave his best and brought home the silver, which is the first time for the Malaysian cycling fraternity.
“This event was held on the last day of the Olympics and surely it is pressure, knowing that the whole nation is depending on you. Despite the pressure, he made us all proud with the silver medal.
“The gold medal is nearing. We will win it soon,” Norza told The Vibes when contacted today.
Meanwhile, former National Sports Institute (NSI) director-general Datuk Ramlan Aziz said that carrying the hopes and dreams of the nation's sporting public at the top of the competitive tree is a massive task in the best of times and Azizulhasni has done well.
“That first Olympic gold medal remains elusive...but not for want of trying, and in displaying all of the character and desire that all champions possess.
“Azizulhasni has imbued his hard-earned silver medal with something worth its weight in gold...the love and admiration of fellow Malaysians,” he said when contacted.
This is the 33-year-old Azizulhasni’s fourth straight Olympic outing since the 2008 Beijing edition.
Azizulhasni, nicknamed The Pocket Rocketman, has done better in every Olympics since his debut in Beijing 2008.
In Beijing, he failed to qualify for the keirin final and finished sixth at the 2012 London Games, before winning his first Olympic medal – a bronze – at the 2016 Rio edition and now the silver medal in Tokyo. – The Vibes August 8, 2021
