New Straits Times Section: Sport Ad Value: RM 26,087 15-Jul-2021 Size : 832cm2 PR Value: RM 78,263

Cometh the Pocket Rocketman COMETH THE Dates： Aug A-& Individual sprint； Aug 7-8： Keirin POCKET ROCKETMAN Venue: Izu Velodrome, Shizuoka

Azizul aims to go where no Malaysians have gone before Athletes: . FADHLI ISHAK zer, as well as Japanese duo Yuta ShahFirdausSahrom [email protected] Wakimoto and Yudai Nitta. Azizulhasni, however, is in the form ofhis life, and if he is to ever OMETH the hour, ： f cometh the man. The 桝P" win the Olympic gold, this is the Association * . question is whether time to do it. None track cyclist Azizulhasni \9t球 The 33-year-oId said he has had Awang will be that man. his best ever preparation to date, Timesport: AZIZULHASNI AWANG Malaysia head to the Tokyo and the numbers that he has One gold Games, still looking to win their achieved, back him up. first ever gold medal since their The Dungun-born rider set a 2016 Rio performance： Olympic debut in 1956. new Asian record in the sprint en AzizulhasniAwang route to winning two bronze at the If Malaysia realise their dream won keirin bronze in Tokyo, it will certainly help to World Championship last year. lift the spirits of a dejected nation Maximum power output iNFDGSAPHlC NST battered by Covid in the past 18 achieved in training and subse­ months. quently his power-to-weight ra­ emerge as a dark horse, take the "I have achieved almost every­ Azizulhasni will aim to live up tio is aJso believed to be at a ca­ field by surprise and grab a thing I wanted in this sport I to the expectations of a nation in reer high though he has kept the medal. have won gold in every major the keirin — an event that saw specifics a secret. But for gold, the money is still championship, and am a 10-time him winning the bronze at the Azizulhasni is also equipped on the vastly experienced Azizul­ Asian champion. 2016 Rio Olympics. with a new state of the art bike hasni as a keirin race can be a "The only thing that is left is the However, on paper, the keirin and skin suit which will give an tricky affair to navigate especial­ Olympic gold, and that is what I gold may look too far a mission added edge aerodynamically. ly once the final lap bell want to achieve in my career. for the Pocket Rocketman. Azizulhasni Awang This time he will have the rings. "Of course there is some pres­ Dutchman is much-improved Shah Fir- The Malaysia National sure, but as a professional athlete the out-and-out favourite at the Buchli, the 2018 world keirin daus Sahrom, 25, for Cycling Federation have I have to deal with it. We cannot Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka after champion, will also be a major company in the keirin, V not set any targets as they escape reality." sweeping the team sprint, indi­ factor in the fight for the keirin and if both riders can do not want to pressure The diminutive Azizulhasni vidual sprint and keirin gold at gold. reach the final, together the duo in Tokyo. may lack the physique of his Eu­ last year's World Cham­ Besides the Dutch, there are they will provide Malaysia a Azizulhasni, however, ropean rivals, but he has some­ pionships. plenty of potential threats else­ strategic boost in the decider. clearly knows what is expected of thing special that cannot be The 24-year-old spearheads a where. These include defending Azizulhasni, who lost to Shah him* *The contingent and the quantified by any metrics - in­ golden generation of track sprint­ champion (Great in a number of warm-up events country view me as one of the credible fighting spirit and guile. ers for the Netherlands which al­ Britain), who won three gold at earlier this year, has even tipped athletes who ha$ a high chance of The self-proclaimed warrior so includes , the 2016 Olympics, German duo the latter as a potential gold bringing back a gold medal, so I has said that he races for "my Roy van den Berg and Matthijs Maximilian Levy and Stefan Bot- medallist. know (what is expected)," said country and my people55 and not Buchli. ticher, Australian Matthew Glaet- It is possible that Shah could the 2017 world champion. just himself

AZIZULHASNI S RIVALS IN TOKYO

II

森