Dato' Muhammad Azizulhasni bin Awang (born 5 January 1988) is a Malaysian professional track cyclist based in Melbourne, Australia. Nicknamed "The Pocket Rocketman" due to his small stature, he was the first and only Malaysian cyclist to win a medal at the Summer Olympics. He also became the first Malaysian to have competed in the Olympics five times. Azizulhasni was Team Malaysia's national flag bearer at the 2008 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. He won his first World Championship medal in 2009, a silver medal in the individual sprint. His debut Olympic medal came at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he won a bronze in the individual keirin. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he won a silver medal in the same category of individual keirin. In 2017, he won his first World Championship title in the keirin, and became the first Malaysian to ever wear the coveted rainbow jersey. Competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Men's keirin qualifier, he was disqualified for cycling ahead of the derny motorbike used as a pacer before it left the track. National track head coach John Beasley called it a monumental mistake, and said: "The rule is clear and we were more than one length in front and it didn't give me any room to argue about it.

Early life and education

Azizulhasni was born in Dungun, Terengganu, Malaysia to his biological parent Awang Embong and Rokiah Husin. He is the eighth of nine children in his family and was adopted by Mustafa Ngah and Selamiah Yong. Azizul took up cycling at 10 years old, and was later discovered by his first coach Rozimi Omar who had advised him to stop skateboarding and focus on cycling. He was thankful to his late father for giving him a bicycle as a reward after he obtained 4A 1B in his UPSR. Azizul received his primary education at Sekolah Kebangsaan Batu 48 and continued his secondary studies at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Omar in Dungun. After his PMR examination, he received three offers from MRSM, Science School and the Bukit Jalil Sports School. Ultimately chose to transfer to national sport school in Bukit Jalil as his interest in cycling and also due to his ambition to be a physician or an athlete at that time. Azizul moved to Australia in 2007, settling in Melbourne. He had also majored in sports science (Bachelor of Sport Movement) at Victoria University (VU). In 2015, he became the first non-Australian athlete to receive a Blue Award from Victoria University.

Career

Azizulhasni won the gold medal in 2017 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and silver medal in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in keirin. He won the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships in the sprint category and the silver medal at the 2010 World Championships in the keirin category. He was named Malaysian Sportsman of the Year in 2009 and 2010. In February 2011, Azizul was involved in a crash during the final of the keirin event in the World Cup leg in Manchester where he suffered serious injury when a 20 cm wooden splinter pierced through his leg. He was ruled out of the World Championships that year. At the 2017 Southeast Asian Games Azizul was the 111th gold medal winner, achieving Malaysia's gold medal goal after emerging champion in the men's sprint category at the National Velodrome in Nilai. Azizul was also the flag-bearer for Malaysia at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games alongside diver Cheong Jun Hoong and silat exponent Mohd Al-Jufferi Jamari.

Personal life

Dato' Azizul married To' Puan Athiah Ilyana Abd Samat on 30 January 2010. The couple are Australian permanent residents and live in Melbourne with their four daughters.

Achievements

Awards and achievements

Honours

Honours of Malaysia