NILAI – Shah The Terminator: that is what national track cycling champion Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang feels represents his teammate Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom best, as he watched a battered and injured Firdaus not only finish his semifinal race but also qualify for the final with a damaged bicycle after a crash that involved several riders.
Azizulhasni said the high fighting spirit that Firdaus showed in the second men’s keirin semifinal of the 2023 Asian Track Cycling and later winning the bronze should serve as an example to other national athletes.
“I watched him crash, careen, and end up getting stuck on the fence before finally sliding down.
“Then he got up, tried to sit down, but his bicycle was damaged and there were carbon fibre splinters, but he kept on pedalling to finish the race.
“If he had given up, he wouldn’t have been in the final and definitely wouldn’t have won the bronze.
“It’s like the same spirit I showed in 2011 (when I had a 20cm wood splinter at the Classic World Cup Series in Manchester),” he told reporters at the National Velodrome here today.
Meanwhile, Firdaus shared that even though he was in pain, he kept on thinking about finishing so that he could earn qualifying points to the 2024 Olympics.
“Initially, there was no problem, and I was in great shape, then I don’t know what happened. “The crash happened so fast…it seemed that a Chinese cyclist touched tyres with a Japanese cyclist, so five of us went flying.
“My bike is a total loss…it’s really fortunate it could still move so I could finish the race.
“I had to use a different prototype bike for the final, but I went full throttle and managed to win the bronze,” he said. – Bernama, June 18, 2023
