Azizul wins again at national meet even without speed suit and shoe cover

Azizul posing with his gold medal.

NILAI: Track cyclist Azizulhasni Awang showed he is on the right track to shine at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next month after nailing a hattrick of wins at the National Championships in Nilai.

Azizul, representing Team Azizul, put up a blistering ride to win the men’s elite 1km time trial event with a time of 1:01.134s at the National Velodrome yesterday.

National endurance rider Mohd Hafiq Jafri took silver with a time of 1:02.584s ahead of the defending champion Mohd Fadhil Zonis, who settled for the bronze in 1:02.948s.

Interestingly, the 38-year-old notched his personal best time in the event without using full racing suit and shoes that he usually used for major championships.

It was his second gold medal at the national meet after winning the sprint event on Thursday.

Azizul described his decision to race the 1km time trial was to test his current fitness level as well as assess the effectiveness of his ongoing training programme.

“I did not set a high target in the time trial because my main purpose was only to get a true picture of my physical condition ahead of the bigger championship,” said Azizul.

Total control: Azizulhasni Awang in action at the National Championships in Nilai. — Bernama

“I think this event is the best time for me to test my level of preparation because it is not every day that we can do training like this.

“For sprint we only go one lap (250m) but you need to last four laps for this event, so not everyone wants to commit to train for this event.

“The last time I did this event was probably two or three years ago and I was just hoping to record a time of around 1:02s.

“I did not wear a speed suit or shoe cover, so I think this 1:01 time is quite impressive.

“At the same time, I am happy to beat the time that my former national teammate Rizal Tisin had done even though I never really thought of going faster than that,” said Azizul, who last won the 1km time trial national title in 2023.

Rizal set 1:01.658s when he took bronze at the 2009 World Championships in Poland and it lasted as the national record until Fadhil clocked 1:03.05s in the 2020 edition of the world meet in South Korea.

Commenting on his preparations for Glasgow, Azizulhasni said he now only wants to focus on the final phase of training while ensuring that his recovery and rest levels are at an optimal level.

Paris Olympian Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri had no problem retaining her women’s elite 1km time trial title for Kedah after clocking 1:07.900s.

Nur Alyssa Farid took silver for Johor in 1:08.594s ahead of Penang’s Nurul Aliana Syafika Azizan (1:09.595s).