KUALA LUMPUR – National track cyclists Datuk Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri have officially qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics in July.
Malaysia National Cycling Federation acting deputy president Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill confirmed this today upon the publication of the official list by the International Cycling Union (UCI).
“We are very pleased with the composition of the track team in Paris with Azizulhasni and Shah Firdaus in both keirin and sprint, as well as Nurul Izzah who is making her debut for both in the world’s biggest sporting event.
“In total, four cyclists will represent the country in Paris with Nur Aisyah Zubir becoming the first woman to qualify for the road event in an Olympic Games for Malaysia,” said Amarjit in a statement today.
Last Monday, Amarjit, who is also a UCI management committee member, informed that based on the points and rankings published after the last round of the Nations Cup in Milton, Canada, Malaysia unofficially had three athletes qualifying for the track event.
Azizulhasni will tie former national diver Datuk Leong Mun Yee’s record of five Olympic appearances in Paris.
He debuted in Beijing 2008 and competed in London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020.
He won the bronze in Rio and silver in Tokyo – both in his pet keirin event.
Shah Firdaus will compete in his second Summer Games after making his debut in Tokyo 2020.
Meanwhile, Nurul Izzah creates history by qualifying for both keirin and sprint, thus becoming the first Malaysian woman to do so.
Previously, Fatehah Mustapa qualified for London 2012 in keirin and competed in the sprint at Rio 2016.
The track team has a detailed plan all set out for the next three months ahead of the Games with training in Nilai Velodrome. Afterwards, they will head to Europe for a short stint before landing in Paris for the track events starting from August 6 to 11. – April 23, 2024