KUALA LUMPUR: The bar is so high in Olympic track and field events that no Malaysian athletes have ever won a preliminary round (PR) or heat in its 68-year history at the Games.
Will Malaysia's fastest man, Azeem Fahmi, win his 100m preliminary round tomorrow at the Stade de France? That's the question on the minds of Malaysian sports fans.
Is Azeem, who holds the national record of 10.09 seconds, fast enough to run into a place in history by winning this race?
A total of 48 sprinters will compete in five PR rounds which begin at 4.35pm (Malaysian time) tomorrow, and from here only 16 of them will qualify
for the heats.
The top two runners from each PR and the six fastest losers will qualify for the heats.
The heats will start 80 minutes later at 5.55pm. And Malaysian fans are hoping that Azeem will still be around by this time.
The Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist should get past his PR, but his main challenge would be in the heats against American world champion Noah Lyles, defending champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy and other big guns.
Last year, at the World Championships in Budapest, Azeem won his preliminary round in 10.24s to qualify for the heats where he clocked 10.26s to finish seventh.
The only Malaysian who has ever reached the semi-finals twice at the Olympics in track and field was Tan Sri Dr M. Jegathesan in the men's 200m in 1964, Tokyo and 1968, Mexico. In Mexico, he set a national record of 20.92, which stood for 49 years.
Jegathesan, 80, said that during his running days, there were no preliminary rounds except for heats followed by semi-finals and final.
"Azeem's main focus is to warm up well and be mentally strong to do his personal best (PB) in the preliminary round.
"If he does a PB, then it will be a good achievement for him and he also has a good chance to make it to the heats," said Jegathesan.
Watson Nyambek, who ran in the 100m (he did not go beyond the heats) at the Olympics in 1996, Atlanta and 2000, Sydney, said he believes that the Perak-born Azeem has the ability to shine in Paris.
"He is young and hungry for success. My advice to him is to stay calm and relaxed before his race. Just take one step at a time, first to focus on the preliminary round."