KUALA LUMPUR: Track cyclist Shah Firdaus Sahrom has apologised to Malaysians for not being able to win the nation a medal in the men's keirin event at the Paris Olympics today.
Shah appeared to be in a good position to secure the bronze medal heading into the final straight at the Saint Quentin en Yvelines Velodrome.
It was, however, not to be as Japan's Shinji Nakano made contact with him and both crashed, taking down Great Britain's Jack Carlin in the process.
Shah placed fourth in the initial results but was later relegated to sixth place. In the official results he was judged to have "been relegated for moving down towards the inside of the track when an opponent was already there."
A dejected Shah admitted it was not the result he was hoping for.
"I apologise to the Malaysian people. I had actually promised my mum to take her to perform the umrah if I won," Shah told Astro Arena.
"I already saw the medal in front of me. My body and legs have been in good condition since yesterday.
"I was in the zone and I knew I could beat my opponents.
"But as I have said before, anything can happen in the keirin. This is not the time for me to be blaming anyone.
"I was already there (position to win medal). This will probably take some time to digest. It won't be easy."
As expected favourites Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) and Matthew Richardson (Australia) claimed keirin gold and silver while Australia's Matthew Glaetzer took bronze.
Shah's performance was nevertheless an improvement over Tokyo 2020 when he exited the keirin competition at the quarterfinal stage.
On Wednesday Shah did well to achieve a new personal best over 200 metres in the men's individual sprint qualifying round.
Shah was Malaysia's last hope for a medal in track cycling following Azizulhasni Awang's disqualification in the keirin yesterday.
Azizulhasni - the sixth rider behind the derny - was judged to have overtaken the derny before it left the track during his first round heat.
Chef de mission Datuk Hamidin Amin confirmed that Malaysia filed an appeal following Azizulhasni's disqualification but were unable to overturn the decision.