Akmal Hakim Zakaria has come a long way since his middle distance running days to winning the national road cycling championships on Sunday.
But this is only the start as far as the Team Sapura Cycling rider is concerned.
Akmal, who turns 24 on Friday, aims to achieve much more in the sport of cycling.
"I was actually a runner in the 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m before I made the switch to cycling," said the Selangor-born athlete.
"Selangor (cycling team) were looking for a climber-type rider and I was approached to try out cycling when I was 15.
"There was no turning back once I started, I was then enrolled in the state sports school and did not go back to athletics.
"From there I joined the NSC-Mycron team in 2015 and competed in track endurance events such as the pursuit and scratch race but also did road races.
"I joined Sapura when the team were formed in 2017 and I have been fully focused on road events since then.
"My long term goals are to become Sea Games and Asian Games champion, and hopefully one day compete at the Olympics."
Akmal looks up to former world road race champion Philippe Gilbert as his idol and just like the Belgian classics specialist, believes his best chances of glory are in the one-day races.
"I am not a pure climber, I am more of an all-rounder and I think I have a similar style to Gilbert's," added Akmal.
"I am good at one-day races with courses which have a rolling terrain which is why the (one-day) races such as the Sea and Asian Games are my target."
On Sunday, Akmal dropped his chain roughly 5km from the finish during the men's elite road race but was able to recover and edge Terengganu Cycling Team's Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki for his first national championships title.