KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia National Cycling Federation (MNCF) deputy president Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill believes the pressure of being expected to win the nation's first-ever Olympic gold medal may have affected Azizulhasni Awang.
Amarjit admitted that it was "disheartening" to see Azizulhasni being disqualified in the men's keirin event at the Paris Olympics yesterday but stressed that the track team remains united in support for the latter.
"This is certainly very disheartening for us all in the team but more so for Datuk Azizul himself," said Amarjit, who is also the head of the MNCF track cycling committee.
"For me personally I feel sad as he was in top shape going into the Keirin and fully focussed on going for gold.
"Perhaps the pressure of (trying to win) the medal got the better of him, I don't know.
"It was a technical mistake, simple as that. It is hard to accept.
"I know the Malaysian public had a lot of expectations and we are sorry for letting them down this way.
"As a team, we will be discussing this for sometime.
"As I have said in the past, we win as a team and we lose as a team. We stick together in times like these."
Amarjit added that Azizulhasni was in a state of shock when he met him and needs time to reflect.
"I immediately went down to the team area to console him. He was still in shock and was processing what had just happened," said Amarjit.
"I think for now we have to give Datuk Azizul sometime to calm himself down and digest what had happened before even approaching him for his comments."
Amarjit is a UCI management committee member.
Azizulhasni, drawn sixth behind the derny, was judged to have overtaken the derny before it left the track during his first round heat at the Saint Quentin en Yvelines Velodrome.
Chef de mission Datuk Hamidin Amin confirmed that Malaysia filed an appeal following Azizulhasni's disqualification but were unable to overturn the decision.
On a positive note, Azizulhasni's teammate Shah Firdaus Sahrom kept Malaysian medal hopes alive by winning his first round repechage yesterday to secure his spot in today's quarterfinals.