KUALA LUMPUR: National track cyclist Mohd Azizulhasni Awang who had an excellent run this year, is now ranked fourth in the latest UCI (International Cycling Union) would keirin ranking.
Packed with power despite his diminutive physic, the Terengganu born Azizulhasni who is referred to as PocketRocketman in the cycling fraternity, is tipped to be among Malaysian athletes who can deliver a medal at the Rio Olympics.
With the world's biggest sporting event due to start tomorrow, the Terengganu rider is busy with his preparations for the race, using racing simulation.
Azizulhasni who is now in Portugal with another Olympic-bound cyclist, Fatehah Mustapha for training said, the stint had shown much positive development for them.
He said the training camp arranged by coach John Beasley had improved their performance significantly.
"Training and preparations for the Olympics had progressed smoothly and with less than a week to fly to Rio, the session was very useful to me and Fatehah," he said.
In the 2012 London Olympics, Azizulhasni took part in two events, keirin and sprint compared to only one in Rio.
He will be in action for the keirin event at Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug 16 while Fatehah would be appearing in the sprint event on Aug 14.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had mentioned Azizulhasni's name as among athletes to deliver medals at the Rio Olympics, the others being badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Pandalela Rinong in diving. --Bernama