Cycling: Olympic medalist Azizulhasni has open-heart surgery

Azizulhasni Awang uploaded this photo of himself on a hospital bed on Twitter

PETALING JAYA: Tokyo Olympic silver medallist track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang (pic) is bracing for a full year of recovery after undergoing open-heart surgery in Australia late last month.

The 34-year-old revealed in a press conference on Sunday (May 1) that he had to go for corrective heart surgery for anomalous aortic origin of the right coronary artery (AAORCA).

Azizul first complained of chest pain in February and was referred by the family doctor at first to a consultant heart cardiologist in Melbourne Dr Barveen Aisha for further checks.

Azizul, who picked up a fourth National Sportsman of the Year award in March, then went for the operation in Epworth Richmond Hospital in Victoria, Australia on April 21.

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National Sports Institute chief executive officer Ahmad Faedzal Ramli said Azizul consulted them for a second opinion and the decision was made for him to undergo surgery as soon as possible.

"This heart condition is very rare and the specialist in Australia had advised him to undergo corrective heart surgery as otherwise, the risk of cardiac arrest was very high.

"We also formed a team headed by NSI's medical director Dr Kamarul Hashimy Hussein and IJN senior consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Jeswant Dillon," said Ahmad.

The focus after this for Azizul is to ensure he makes a full recovery and hopefully be able to make a comeback to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Azizul will therefore sit out the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July and probably the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September as well.

After securing silver in Tokyo, the keirin specialist had expressed his desire to go for his fifth Olympic outing in Paris for another shot at winning the nation's first gold medal.

The silver was the second Olympic medal in his illustrious career after winning bronze in keirin in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Aku bersyukur dengan segala nikmat dan ujian dari Mu Ya Allah "Apakah manusia itu mengira bahwa mereka akan dibiarkan mengatakan, "Kami telah beriman", sedang mereka tidak diuji lagi? Dan sesungguhnya Kami telah menguji orang-orang sebelum mereka” (29:2) pic.twitter.com/xOSvdJJwbC — Azizulhasni Awang (@AzizulAWANG) May 1, 2022