Beasley believes Azizul can still bring glory to Malaysia as he races smarter

We still need you: Azizulhasni Awang had initially planned to retire after last year’s Paris Olympics.

KUALA LUMPUR: He may not be as explosive as before but two-time Olympic medallist Azizulhasni Awang, despite his age, is still as sharp as he has ever been and remains a good prospect to make track cycling history for Malaysia at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya in September.

Malaysian cycling technical director John Beasley, who has watched and guided Azizul through the years, is confident the 38-year-old still has it in him to bring glory for Malaysia.

The Pocket Rocketman has won the Asian Games gold medal twice – in keirin in Guangzhou (2010) and in sprint in Jakarta (2018).

Azizul was forced to miss the last Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023 following a high-speed training crash a week before departing.

“We have not seen the last of him. This is Datuk Azizul we are talking about. He’s gone through a lot,” said Beasley.

“I think it will be his time to retire by the end of the year. Obviously, he will want to finish it off well.

“He is definitely going to put everything into the next 11 months and hopefully finish on a high note,” he said.

Azizul, with his experience and strong tactical awareness, has been able to overcome age-related fatigue by racing smarter.

Azizul proved this by winning both the keirin and sprint races in the first leg of the President’s Cup at the National Velodrome in Nilai earlier this month.

Azizul also shone at another UCI Class 1 competition – the Austral Wheelrace in Melbourne last month where he claimed silver in both the individual sprint and the keirin, despite the high volume of races at the event.

“As he gets older, his recovery process gets slower.

“But he races with his head because he had no legs (due to fatigue), as they had yet to recover.

“That is the good thing about Azizul, his versatility.

“When his legs aren’t good, his head is good. When both are good, then he is really strong.

“I’m sure he has his mind set on finishing a career on his own terms.”

Azizul had initially planned to retire after last year’s Paris Olympics but was coaxed by a number of parties to race on until the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the very least.

The Dungun-born Azizul announced in April last year that he will ride until next year, albeit as an independent rider and thus no longer trains under the National Sports Council’s programme.

Azizul is expected to commit to the UCI Track World Cup series starting in Perth (March 6-8), Hong Kong (April 17-19) and Nilai (April 24-26).