PARIS, Aug 9 — “I believe we can deliver you a nice present (gold medal),” said national track cycling coach John Beasley ahead of the much-anticipated 2024 Paris Olympics men’s keirin event at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome this weekend.
With the entire nation awaiting the country’s maiden gold medal in the Olympics, reigning silver medalist Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom will take the centre-stage on the last two days of competition in the Paris Games during the highly tactical keirin event.
Both the 2017 keirin world champion Mohd Azizulhasni and Muhammad Shah Firdaus ended their challenge in the sprint event early on Wednesday, after being eliminated in the 1/8 and 1/32 rounds, respectively to get extra rest for their pet event.
On the course, Azizulhasni, also known as the Pocket Rocketman, renewed his national record after clocking 9.402 seconds to finish 10th in the qualifying round, bettering his previous record of 9.523s set at the Asian Track Cycling Championships (ACC) in Nilai last year.
Beasley said his charges now have the speed they need to ensure a nice momentum on Saturday and Sunday.
"We're right where we want to be, so now it's just a light training session and rest until Sunday. Hopefully, we can build some strong momentum. I have one of the best keirin riders in the world — top three any time."
“The main thing is we have got the speed that we need to win. So, regardless of who is in our heat, we've got the speed to do it. We come here to win in our pet event (keirin). We're on target, I am happy,” he told Bernama.
The first round and repechage events are scheduled for Saturday, while the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be held on Sunday, the final day of the Paris Games.
Meanwhile, Beasley praised 20-year-old debutant Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri, who missed the women’s quarter-finals yesterday after putting up a good show. She will next compete in the sprint beginning today.
“She is going to be so much better in four years time, she surpassed my expectations. We did a lot of work with her technically, and she's quite smart and bright. She executed pretty well.
"We knew we weren't as strong as the other girl, so we had to approach it very tactically to try and get through. She was a bit unlucky not to advance, but I'm really, really happy with her performance," he added.
As of today, Malaysia has won two-bronze medals via shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles) and Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles) at the Paris Olympics.
— Bernama
