KUALA LUMPUR: Former world keirin champion Azizulhasni Awang believes teammate Shah Firdaus Sahrom has what it takes to spring a surprise at the Paris Olympics on Jul 26-Aug 11.
Azizulhasni, who is seven years Shah's senior, said Shah is a world-class rider who is feared by his peers.
"As his teammate who has trained and sparred with him for a long time, I believe he can createan upset in Paris," said Azizulhasni, 36, recently.
"He has a much larger physique and is stronger than I am. He is a world-class rider and when we go for competitions, other athletes fear him because he has his own strengths, such as his ability to do long sprints.
"He has his own strengths and I have mine, so sometimes I feel that it is unfair for people to compare him to me."
Shah won his first individual medal in a major multi-sport competition, a bronze, at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and early last year won silver at the Cairo leg of the UCI Nations Cup.
Consistency in his performances, however, has been an issue.
Azizulhasni will be racing alongside Shah in both the individual sprint and the keirin in Paris.
It will be his fifth appearance at the games, which is set to be a record for a Malaysian male athlete. He previously won bronze at Rio 2016 and silver at Tokyo 2020.
Azizulhasni, however, stressed that the keirin can be an unpredictable event that can easily go the wrong way, even for the best prepared riders.
"When racing at the highest level at the Olympics, you have to put everything on the line and have a perfect race," said Azizulhasni.
"In Tokyo for example, I was in tip-top condition and could have dominated the others but another rider committed a mistake.
"(To win) all the elements have to fall in place 100 per cent, being well-prepared is not enough if luck is not on your side."
The Dungun-born athelete was in fine form in Tokyo and was considered a serious contender for gold.
Great Britain's Sir Jason Kenny, however, ran away with the gold after the rider behind him left too large of a gap after the derny left the track. This left the other riders, including Azizulhasni, with too large of a gap to close down.