Azizulhasni holds nerve to clinch keirin gold at Asian Games

 The victory saw the 38-year-old make amends for his disappointment at the 2018 edition in Jakarta-Palembang, where he won the bronze medal.

Azizulhasni Awang drew on his vast experience to win the men’s keirin competition at the 2026 Asian Games in Shizuoka, Japan, today. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

National track cycling ace Azizulhasni Awang delivered Malaysia’s eighth gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games after producing a late burst to beat China’s Li Zhiwei in a thrilling men’s keirin final today.

The victory at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka, Japan, saw Azizulhasni make amends for his disappointment at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, where he won the bronze medal.

Azizulhasni, 38, drew on his vast experience to remain composed before launching his final attack, which ultimately separated him from his nearest challengers, reported Utusan Malaysia.

He waited until the final lap before sprinting across the finish line in 10.330 seconds, with Zhiwei finishing just 0.018 seconds behind in 10.348s to take silver. Another Chinese rider, Xie Han, completed the podium with bronze in 10.547s, while Japan’s Minato Nakaishi finished fourth in 10.597s.Azizulhasni’s teammate Shah Firdaus Sahrom finished fifth in 10.678s.

After the race, Dungun-born Azizulhasni told Bernama that the victory was even more meaningful as he had to compete against much younger riders, including 22-year-old Zhiwei, in a high-speed final.

He said the victory proved that all the sacrifices and challenges he had endured leading up to the games had been worthwhile, especially after joining the team’s training camp in Brisbane a week late.

“I trained with the team for only three weeks. But despite all the challenges everything went smoothly,” he said. “In the sprint, my timing wasn’t too bad. I closed the gap. It’s just that I couldn’t match the strength of the Chinese rider in the semi-finals.”

Azizulhasni won bronze in the men’s individual sprint yesterday. His failure to advance to the sprint final motivated him to bounce back in the keirin, where he had vowed to give his all in pursuit of the gold.

He said the race was contested at such a high speed — almost on par with a World Championships final. He chose not to rush to catch the leading group, instead gradually building up his pace before increasing his speed on the final lap to ensure that no rider overtook him at the end of the race.

“I gave them a gap and chased them down slowly. My timing was such that I only came in strongly on the final lap to make sure nobody tried to overtake me at the last minute. The timing was perfect and I overtook them all the way to the finish line. It was beautiful, but I was really exhausted afterwards,” he said.

Azizulhasni said his younger rivals, including Japan’s Kaiya Ota, who is 11 years younger, and Zhiwei, who is 16 years younger, both commented on his achievement. “They also said, ‘You are crazy, 38 years old, how can you still be competing at this level (at the Asian Games)?’” he said.

The victory saw Azizulhasni end his Asian Games career with an overall haul of three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. - FMT