NASHVILLE: Malaysia's fastest man, Azeem Fahmi, will compete in his first outdoor 100m race in the United States — on Friday in Tennessee.
Azeem left for the US on Jan 4 to study and train at Auburn University in Alabama. His last 100m race was at the Malaysia Games in Bukit Jalil last September where the spimter clocked 10.25s for the gold.
Azeem's former coach, Amir Izwan, said the athlete had called him to inform that he will be competing in Tennessee.
"It's on Friday (March 24) which is the first day of the fasting month in the US.
"It will be his first 100m race in six months since the Malaysia Games last year.
"According to Azeem, it's a small race with no big names competing in Tennessee," said Amir who guided Azeem to a new national 100m record of 10.09s in the World Junior Championships in Cali, Colombia, last August,
Azeem, 18, a former student of SMK Gunung Rapat in Ipoh, has been training under coach Ken Harnden in the past three months.
Since arriving in the US, Azeem has broken the national 60m dash record twice. He clocked 6.65s to win the Texas Tech Invite in Lubbock in January. His effort erased the 6.66s mark set by Watson Nyambek at the World Championships in Maebashi, Japan, in 1999.
A few weeks later in the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, he bettered his national record again by clocking 6.62s for fifth placing.
Azeem aims to qualify for the World Championships (10.00s qualifying mark) in Budapest, Hungary, in August with a sub-10s run, He will be competing in the National Collegiate Athletics Association outdoor competitions from next month.