Malaysia pedals hard for elusive Games gold

MELBOURNE - Aspiring Malaysian track cyclists have had to contend with infrastructure issues and the national obsession with soccer and badminton but coach John Beasley believes he has a team that could deliver the country's first Olympic gold medal.

Up-and-coming cyclists have a choice of two velodromes across the steamy Southeast Asian nation of 28 million on which to hone their craft.

One offers a bumpy ride on a circuit built for the 1998 Commonwealth Games in the capital Kuala Lumpur. The other, an older outdoor track in the central town of Ipoh, invariably offers waterlogged timber due to monsoon downpours.

Infrastructure issues aside, Beasley, the Australian in charge of the country's elite programme, says his team can challenge the best of the West at the London Games.

"I'm very quietly confident," the burly 50-year-old told Reuters as he watched over his three Olympic hopefuls at a sleepy suburban velodrome in southeast Melbourne.

"We've got to get it right on the day, but I'm hoping worst case scenario we'll get a medal in the keirin and best case we'll win it.

"We're not scared of racing Chris Hoy or anyone else."

Pint-sized world silver medallist Azizulhasni Awang, nicknamed the 'Pocket Rocketman' for the power he generates from his five-foot-seven frame, is likely to lead a small, but plucky, charge for Malaysia at the London velodrome where British great Hoy is expected to defend his keirin title.