Azizulhasni Ends Sprint Campaign, Focuses on Keirin

Azizulhasni Awang’s sprint event campaign at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games concluded in the 1/8 finals at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome. Azizulhasni, also known as the ‘Pocket Rocketman’, did not advance to the quarter-finals after finishing third in the 1/8 repechage round. He trailed 0.190 seconds behind Poland’s Mateusz Rudyk, who clocked 9.966 seconds with Israel’s Mikhail Yakovlev finishing second.

The repechage round winner advances to the quarter-finals and Azizulhasni found himself in this position after losing to the Netherlands’ Jeffrey Hoogland by +0.037 seconds in heat 6 of the 1/8 finals. Despite the setback, Azizulhasni set a new national record with a time of 9.402 seconds in the qualifying round. This surpassed the previous record of 9.523 seconds set at the Asian Track Cycling Championships (ACC) in Nilai last year.

Speaking to reporters, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist in the keirin event expressed satisfaction with his performance, particularly his qualifying round time. He noted the initial plan was to progress round by round. He did this by defeating Germany’s Luca Spiegel and Great Britain’s Hamish Turnbull in the 1/32 and 1/16 finals. However, he fell short against Hoogland, who was faster using a bigger gear.

Azizulhasni’s coach, John Beasley advised saving energy for the keirin event. Advancing through the repechage would have meant facing the Netherlands’ Harrie Lavreysen, the fastest rider, in the quarter-finals. This strategic decision aimed to conserve energy for the next two days focusing on the keirin. Another national rider, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom also faced challenges.

He did not advance to the 1/16 finals after a tough match against Yakovlev in the 1/32 finals. He also failed to progress in the 1/32 repechage round, finishing second behind Lithuania’s Vasilijus Lendel. Looking ahead, Mohd Azizulhasni and Muhammad Shah Firdaus will compete in their main event, the keirin, starting Saturday (Aug 10). Meanwhile, Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri will compete in the women’s sprint event starting Friday.