FOLLOWING his exploits at the World Junior Athletics Championships in Cali, Colombia, sprinter Azeem Fahmi can expect higher expectations on him in future competitions.
The 18-year-old Perakian is now ranked among the top five junior 100m runners in the world based on his time of 10.09s in Cali.
Azeem's next goal is to be the No 1 in Asia and among the best in the world at senior level.
He should focus on qualifying for next year's World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August. The qualifying mark is likely to be 10.05.
At last month's World Championships in Oregon, the United States, the 100m qualifying mark was 10.05.
Azeem should also focus on preparing for the Paris 2024 Olympics. He has the potential and ability to be a 100m star at international level.
At the world junior meet, Azeem signalled his arrival with a blistering 10.09 in the heats that obliterated the national 100m record of 10.18 set by Khairul Hafiz Jantan in the Malaysia Games in Kuching in 2016.
Azeem has become the first Malaysian sprinter to reach the 100m final in a world-level meet, and he clocked 10.14 to finish fifth.
His 10.09 surpassed the fourth placing qualifying mark of 10.10 for next year's Hangzhou Asian Games.
In Cali on Wednesday, Azeem won his 200m heat by breaking his own national junior record, clocking 20.83 to erase his previous best of 20.89, recorded in the Sarawak Junior Open last month.
The 200m semi-finals were delayed by more than two hours due to heavy rain. Despite the chilly condition, Azeem did 20.97 to finish fourth but did not advance to the final.
Azeem, when contacted by Timesport, said he was happy with his overall performance in Cali.
"I have achieved my targets at this world junior meet. Finishing fifth in the 100m final is an indication that I have a bright future. But I must work hard to improve my times in competitions.
"The real challenge will start now as the people of Malaysia expect me to do much better in competitions. To achieve that I need a high level of training and competitions," he said.
Azeem's coach, Amir Izwan said the speedster should be based in the United States to get top level coaching and competitions.
"He needs to compete in five to eight top level competitions a year. We are planning to send him to the University of Houston by January to train under world renowned Olympian Carl Lewis," said Amir.
The precocious Azeem is indeed a rare talent. The Malaysian Athletics Federation and National Sports Council should work together to give him the best coaching and training programme to help him excel at world level.