The refuelled Pocket Rocketman will have to show he can rock

Malaysia's track cycling sensation, Azizulhasni Awang, is 38 years old, an age at which many of his peers have retired. Despite his advanced age, he remains undeterred and has set his sights on making one last push for an Olympic gold medal at the Los Angeles 2028 Games. The question now is whether Azizulhasni can live up to the expectations placed on him.

His credentials speak for themselves, as he has won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympics and silver at Tokyo 2020, with Paris 2024 being the predicted final stage. However, Azizulhasni chose to defy expectations by winning the keirin gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, a title that had eluded him for years. His intense training regimen and discipline have impressed even his fellow coaches.

However, recently, some cycling fans have argued that Azizulhasni should step aside and allow younger riders to take the spotlight. Nonetheless, the Malaysian National Sports Council has decided to support Azizulhasni's quest for an Olympic gold medal, but it will not come without demands. He now has to deliver at the World Championships in Shanghai and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, where he must prove that he can still outperform the continent's best cyclists.

While modern sport has proven that age is no longer an automatic retirement notice, it is still a crucial factor. The smallest fraction of a second can make the difference between a medal and finishing outside the podium, which makes Azizulhasni's challenge even greater. If he can successfully qualify for the Los Angeles Games at 40, it would be the perfect ending to an extraordinary career, but it will require extraordinary work.