As he walked towards the podium, Azizul Hasni Awang was shaking his head in disbelief that he had actually led Josiah Ng to a stunning 1-2 finish for Malaysia in the keirin final at the Guangzhou Velodrome on Wednesday.
Then, after getting his gold medal on the rostrum, he was eager to return to the Athletes' Village to shave his head bald "as a promise I had made to myself".
It was indeed a superb feat by the pint-sized rider from Terengganu, who finally ended Malaysia's 40-year gold medal drought in Asiad cycling since the golden double by Ng Joo Ngan and the late Daud Ibrahim in Bangkok in 1970.
"I had to bite my gold medal to make sure that it was for real. Until the results became official, I was worried that I would lose it again ... like what happened in New Delhi (at the Commonwealth Games last month)," said Azizul.
Azizul had earlier failed to get the bronze in the sprint event, losing to Japan's Nitta Yudai. "I was down after not making the sprint final because of a technical mistake on Monday and I thought I could make up for it by getting the bronze," he said.
"But I did not do well against the Japanese rider and then I felt really tired. But the keirin was the last event and I told myself that I would race all out and take whatever risks necessary."
- The Star (Malaysia)
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