SEPANG, 13 Ogos -- Atlet berbasikal trek negara, Datuk Azizulhasni Awang (dua, kanan) bersama Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom (tiga,kanan) dan Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri (kanan) sebaik tiba di Terminal 1 Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur hari ini selepas penyertaan di Sukan Olimpik Paris 2024. --fotoBERNAMA (2024) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA
PETALING JAYA: It wasn’t how anyone would have wanted Malaysia’s cycling hopes to end at the Paris Olympics, but the results should not reflect what the Road to Gold (RTG) programme has done for the athletes.
The Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) believe the RTG programme should continue, and deputy president Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill said all three cyclists at the Olympics surpassed expectations.
“Other than the shock disqualification of Azizulhasni Awang which was due to technical reasons, both Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri had surpassed and performed well beyond expectations.
“Even Azizul performed his best time during the sprint qualifying up to the quarter-finals,” said Amarjit.
Amarjit, who is also the UCI management committee member, said Shah Firdaus was a whisker away from an Olympic bronze medal if it wasn’t for the crash with Japanese rider Shinji Nakano in the final 50 metres.
“The focus was on Azizul to perform but Shah Firdaus proved that he had what it takes to deliver.
“Watch him in four years at the Olympics and with the right support, he is going to deliver.
“Izzah, in the meantime, broke the national sprint record by 0.3 of a second with a time of 10.709 and she still has a long way to go. I believe she is someone you have to watch as well in four years time,” he said.
Amarjit said the whole idea of RTG was to be a long-term strategy towards the 2028 Los Angeles and 2032 Brisbane Olympics by providing a top-up programme with the National Sports Council’s (NSC) podium programme.
“I for one do not think it is a failure for cycling. In some ways, it has been a success.
“My only wish is that the programme continues with consistency without the concern that the programme will be scrapped or changed if there is a new administration,” he said.
Meanwhile, national track cycling technical director John Beasly echoed Amarjit’s view, saying that the RTG programme should remain and not be disrupted even if there is a change in government.
“We need to continue this and not stop. There have been similar programmes like this previously but were undone when there was a change in government.
“We need to stop the process of stopping a programme and starting another. The elite athletes need this programme so we need to be supportive,” said Beasly.
