M’sian cyclist shares crazy experience to become Asian King of Sprint with gold medal win in S. Korea

Malaysians have a very good reason to be proud today.

Our very own national track cyclist, Mohd Azizulhasni Awang
has just emerged as the Asian King of Sprint!

Azizulhasni aka The Pocket Rocketman bagged the men’s individual
GOLD MEDAL at the 2020 Asian Track Cycling Championships (ACC) in South
Korea yesterday (21^st October).

While Malaysians rejoice the Terengganu-born sprinter’s incredible
win over Yuta Wakimoto of Japan, few actually know of the struggles to become
the world’s best.

Which is why Azizulhasni took to Facebook to share his crazy experience to becoming the Asian King of Sprint with his 10^th Asian Title.

View this post on Instagram

・・・ Syukur Alhamdulillah . My 10th Asian Titles . Terima Kasih Isteri dan anak-anak tersayang @tyailyana , Amna Maryam, Amna Khadeeja. Ibu bapa dan keluarga mertua juga seluruh ahli keluarga. Terima kasih juga kepada semua penyokong yang sentiasa mendoakan kejayaan saya. . Tidak lupa juga kepada penaja-penaja rasmi saya iaitu . Cimb @cimbmalaysia AirAsia @airasia Daikin @daikinmalaysia . serta penaja-penaja lain yang sentiasa memberikan kepercayaan dan sokongan penuh kepada saya. . Kalau anda inginkan karangan tentang perlumbaan harini, taip NAK di ruangan komen. Terima Kasih. . . #teamazizul #azizulawang #teamcimb #cimb #forward #airasia #daretodream #allstars #daikin #daikinmy #daikinmalaysia #tumi #tumiglobalcitizens #nike #nikemy #oakley #oakleymy #ogk #ogkkabuto #wattbike

A post shared by Azizul | Awang (@azizulhasniawang) on Oct 21, 2019 at 12:45am PDT

After losing the first round, Azizulhasni found himself drained and extremely fatigued.

“Because my body was full of lactic acid as a result of full on acceleration, I went straight to the toiled and puked everything out.”

Azizulhasni via Facebook.

Thankfully, fellow Malaysian cyclist Shah Firdaus Sahrom who happened to be in the toilet gave the exhausted athlete a helping hand.

“I tried to control my breathing and make every effort to recover. Keeping in mind, this time the battle was to take my 10th Asian personal title.

It’s an achievement that no one else has claimed and most importantly, my personal dream and mission. I told myself, told my brain to not give up and not to let your enemies seize your dream away from you.”

Azizulhasni via Facebook.

With renewed determination, The Pocket Rocket Man dove into the second round, calling it “really crazy”.

To prevent Azizulhasni from rising to pole position, his Japanese
opponent carried a high pace from the beginning. He knew that the resilient
Malaysian athlete would try his best to overtake him.

But Azizulhasni was doing quick mental calculations on the track, strategising carefully on how to overtake Yuta Wakimoto.

Amongst the factors that he took into account were:

• The increased wind drag from accelerating side by side.
• Reducing bends to avoid slowing down.
• Pedalling within the track lines to reduce the distance to complete each lap.

It worked and the national champ WON the second round
with a jaw dropping speed of only 9.824 seconds!

Azizulhasni’s victorious second round led to a third
medal-deciding round where he pedalled with all his might to the top of
the podium and WON THE GOLD MEDAL!

Sprint cycling is no easy sport. As our Asian King of Sprint puts it, the riders go head to head and toe to toe with each other.

“I like saying the Sprint event is like Boxing. Because you and your opponent need to wrestle with each other using all their might and skills in their arsenal.”

“In the world of speed and acceleration, you have to be a little crazy. And errrr, yes, I am crazy. But I’m only crazy when racing la.”

Azizulhasni via Facebook.

We take our hats off to the Malaysian professional track cyclist who did the entire nation proud. His win is proof that hard work and determination pays off!

Check out his full racing experience post below:

Congratulate Azizulhasni on his victory at our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!