NILAI, June 11 (Bernama) -- National track cycling champion Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang was moved by the prayer of the Sultan of Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah who wanted to see him compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (LA28).
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics keirin silver medalist, however, said he was not yet ready to make any commitment on the matter.
Mohd Azizulhasni said at this stage he was more comfortable taking a “step-by-step” approach with his focus on preparations for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
“I leave it to Allah first. We can plan, but the best planner is Allah. I don’t want to over-promise either.
“I don’t want to place one hope not only on me, but for our sport and everyone. We'll see how it progresses," he said when met at the 2026 National and National Youth Track Championships at the National Velodrome, Nilai here, today.
He said this when asked to comment on the statement of Al-Sultan Abdullah yesterday, who prayed for the 38-year-old racer to be able to compete in LA28.
Mohd Azizulhasni, who is nicknamed "The Pocket Rocketman," said the support and presence of Al-Sultan Abdullah who came to watch the race here yesterday was very meaningful.
"We are all really moved by His Highness’s presence to watch and words of encouragement and prayer for us all. It's not easy for our sport to get such attention. My hope is that from here on, cycling will continue to grow,” he said.
At the same time, he said the country's cycling achievements on the world stage over the past few years should open up space for the sport to grow even bigger, including in terms of talent development, structural support and the continuity of junior athletes.
"Cycling should actually be like badminton and football. We have world-class performance, but we are still crawling to have a big pool of talent and progress. I hope we will continue to progress forward," he said.
Earlier, the elite men's sprint final saw Mohd Azizulhasni, representing Team Azizul, defeated Johor rider Mohd Akmal Nazimi Jusena 2-0, thus making up for the disappointment of winning silver in the keirin yesterday.
In the bronze medal match, Johor representative Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom beat Muhammad Fadhil Mohd Zonis of Selangor 2-0.
-- BERNAMA
