Azizul’s audacity is part of his winning package

IN his astonishing cycling career so far, two incidents define Azizulhasni Awang’s winning mentality - the horrific injury he sustained in Manchester in 2011 and being back on the pedal so soon after an open-heart surgery last year.

Since bursting onto the senior scene by winning the keirin gold in the Asian Championship in Bangkok in 2007, Azizul has shown that he is made of sterner stuff on a myriad of occasions.

When his calf was skewered by a shard of Siberian pine from the track in Manchester in the 2011 UCI Track World Cup race, the world grimaced with him.

Remarkably Azizul recovered to remount his bike and finish third.

Azizul soon stopped after the finish line, collapsing in agony with his calf pierced by the wood before he was taken away on a stretcher, before an applauding crowd.

The adrenaline and courage that brought Azizul to cross the line not only earned him a bronze medal and respect, but also generated newfound interest in the sport.

Showing perseverance and resilience, Azizul returned to the track after a six-month layoff, winning a place in the 2012 London Olympics, where he finished sixth in the keirin and eighth in the sprints.

Jijoe to his friends and family, Azizul distinguished himself further, by recovering quickly after undergoing an open-heart surgery last year to correct a coronary artery anomaly, a condition he had suffered from since birth.

Lesser mortals would have been satisfied with his long list of palmares, with a bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and a silver in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 taking the pride of place.

But not an undaunted Azizul.

So does Azizul has the right to demand more from everyone, including the authorities, his coaches and support system? Is he in a position to ask for more?

Azizul has always been outspoken from his schooldays.

Those who had been following his career from the early days acknowledged his talent but the package comes with a flaw or some say, real strength – his audacity to question authority.

As a 15-year-old cyclist, Azizul questioned the reluctance to invest in the youth, stating at that time: “Maybe they don’t believe we can beat the Japanese, Koreans and Chinese.”

A disciplinary issue saw him being expelled from the National Sports Council (NSC) hostel in 2006.

But two weeks later, despite not having a place to stay and having to find ways to eat at the school canteen, Azizul bagged three gold medals in the Asian Junior Championship at the Kuala Lumpur velodrome

In a Facebook posting yesterday, he said he was promised a better training and support system compared to Melbourne, where a special track cycling project was established by NSC in 2007.

Ahead of the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in 2017, the then Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, announced in May that the Nilai Velodrome would be made the hub for Malaysian cycling.

After 15 years, the Melbourne project ran its course in 2022. With NSC’s yearly budget shrinking due to the economic downturn, it was practical to make Nilai the training camp that would boost the local scene.

I have fond memories of the velodrome, because it was there Azizul delivered gold medal number 111 for the Malaysian contingent in the SEA Games.

While doing a live crossover with Azizul, the two of us got drenched by mineral water by spectators.

Yet Nilai offers little value in terms of prepping Azizul for a last hurrah in Paris 2024.

Although it is easier for NSC to conduct a check and balance on the progress made by the cyclists in Nilai, Azizulhasni deserves to be given a full financial backing.

But how much is enough?

After all the WX-R Vortex bike that he used for Tokyo, cost RM13 million in research and development.

His latest request may include personal coaching or equipment at his disposal and personal guarantees on his family’s needs, as reflected by his posting.

If we were to celebrate a gold medal in Paris next year, we need to accept the fact Azizul’s audacity and outspokenness are part of the package.

And he has no business to be in Nilai.