BIGGER ROLE AHEAD

Azizulhasni wants to help in unearthing talent

AZIZULHASNI Awang, while happy with the progress made by young cyclists Fadhil Zonis and Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, believes there is more local talent waiting to be unearthed.

“It is true that Fadhil and Shah have really improved a lot and it is very positive to see,” said Azizulhasni, in response to national head coach John Beasley’s recent disclosure that a much-improved Shah was becoming a real handful for the national ace in training.

But Azizulhasni, an Olympic bronze medalist and former world champion in keirin, is not perturbed as he knows that he can still shift up a gear when it comes to major competitions.

“Most of the time in training (races), they are better than me. It kind of reminds me of the old days when I trained with Josiah Ng and Edrus Yunos.

“I was always second or third in training then. Perhaps it was because I would always go full throttle in training and have little left (for practice races).

“But the thing about me is that when it comes to major competitions, I can step it up to the next level.

“Josiah would say after (being beaten in competition) races ‘what the hell are you doing? I thought I had you already’. I guess that’s just how I am,” said Azizulhasni.

As happy as he is with Shah and Fadhil’s progress, what really excites Azizulhasni is the improvement seen in recent years, thanks to ongoing infrastructure and talent development programmes for track cycling in Malaysia.

And he intends to play a bigger role in the development of the sport when he calls it a day.

“Actually I do not have any detailed planning yet (for life after competitive cycling). Given a choice, I’d like to race for as long as possible,” said Azizulhasni.

“But one of the things I want to do when when I stop racing is to help our cycling scene in terms of development, mostly in track cycling.

“I see a lot of young riders with tremendous potential. It’s just that they don’t have the right access (to support). We already have a blueprint (for development) but we have not been able to adapt it here yet.

“Some of these kids are really talented, even more talented that I am. They have good physical size and are very strong, but they lack exposure and knowledge.”

“One day, I would like to give back whatever (knowledge) I have gained over the years because I too learned from others,” he added.

“I’d also like to share what I have learnt on my own so that we will have riders who are better than me.”

Azizulhasni created history when he won the first Olympic medal for Malaysia in cycling by finishing third in keirin at the 2016 Rio Games.

He now hopes to become the first Malaysian to win an Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games next year.