KUALA LUMPUR: While all eyes will be on Azizulhasni Awang in the track cycling events, his teammate Shah Firdaus Sahrom is just as determined to do the nation proud at the ongoing Paris Olympics.
Shah made his Olympic debut at the Tokyo games three years ago and despite suffering a heavy crash in the first round, he was still able to reach the quarterfinals in the men's keirin.
The 28-year-old has set his sights on reaching the final this time.
"I am hoping to reach the final in the keirin. To do so, I have to focus on each round first and try my best to avoid making small mistakes," said Shah yesterday.
"With the attention being more focused towards Datuk Azizulhasni, it is in a way an advantage for me (due to less pressure).
"This is, however, the biggest competition (in the world) and the entire nation has high expectations for all (Malaysian) athletes competing.
"Insya-Allah, I will perform to the best of my abilities."
Shah has been earmarked as a potential medallist in Paris.
Since Tokyo, he has gone on to win bronze in the keirin at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and also clinched two bronzes (keirin, individual sprint) at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
Shah, Azizulhasni and Izzah Izzati Asri are currently undergoing a final training camp in Mallorca, Spain under national track cycling programme technical director John Beasley.
They have started their taper for the Olympics.
"My body is in good condition and the focus now is on getting enough rest before the competition," said Shah.
They will leave for Paris on Thursday (Aug 1).
The men's individual sprint event begins on Aug 7 while the keirin starts on Aug 10. The track cycling events will be held at Velodrome de Saint Quentin en Yvelines.