Azizulhasni Awang
KUALA LUMPUR: National track cycling champion Azizulhasni Awang has expressed his disappointment with the National Sports Council (NSC) for failing to provide a complete support system here in preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Azizulhasni, nicknamed "The Pocket Rocketman" due to his small stature, said a series of discussions were held with NSC for a year before he returned to Malaysia from his training base in Melbourne, Australia, but so far no solution has been found.
He said that he accepted with an open heart the decision of NSC to close the centralised training camp of the national track cycling squad in Melbourne, but his return to the homeland was not accompanied by a complete and world-class support system as promised.
"Returning home is not an issue, so long as the support system in Malaysia is equivalent or better than in Melbourne. Discussions and meetings with my representatives have taken place more than 10 times and the answers received are very disappointing.
"Really unprofessional and just letting things hang for a very long time. What kind of high performance sport is this!," lamented Azizulhasni on his official Facebook site today.
He added that if he doesn't get a good support system in the country, it would be better for him to return to Melbourne to undergo preparation training with just over a year left before the 2024 Olympic Games.
"It's not that I don't like being in Malaysia, but for a world-class athlete like me, training in Melbourne (for now) would be more effective and there I can train calmly without any distractions, especially sports politics like this.
"It is better that I train in peace there and only come home to train with the team in Malaysia for a training camp or specific training only as practiced by athletes of various sports in Europe," he said.
At the same time, he expressed his disappointment with some individuals in the NSC who took a lax attitude regarding the promises he had previously requested.
However, the 2017 keirin world champion is understood to have relayed the issue to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Road to Gold Programme (RTG) Committee for further action. - Bernama
