Paris 2024: Muhammad Azeem Advances To first Round 

From Vikneswaran Raman

PARIS, August 3 (Bernama) — National sprint king Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi advanced to the first round of the men's 100 metres dash at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Stade de France here today.

The 20-year-old  secured his spot by finishing second in Heat 1 of the preliminary round in a time of 10.42 seconds (s).

Ebrahima Camara of Gambia won  the heat with a time of 10.29s while Singapore's Marc Brian Louis  finished third (10.43s).

Muhammad Azeem, the national record holder with a time of 10.09s, will next compete in the first round at 11.45 am local time (5.45 pm Malaysian time).

"The goal for this morning was to qualify for the first round, the upcoming race is going to be the real one, so going to give my all. Hopefully can survive.

"Coming to the Olympics, my biggest goal is to get a new season best, so any time below 10.36s would be great," he said.

Out of 46 athletes competing in the six heats this morning, only 16 athletes, including the top two from each heat and four others with the fastest times, will advance to the first round at 11.45 am (5:45 pm Malaysian time).

The semi-finals are scheduled to take place at 8:05 pm on Sunday (2.05 am Monday Malaysian time), followed by the final at 9.50 pm (3.50 am Monday Malaysian time).

The world and Olympic records for the 100m sprint are still held by Jamaican legend Usain Bolt, with times of 9.58s (August 2009 in Berlin) and 9.63s (August 2012 in London), respectively.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games last September, Muhammad Azeem won bronze with a time of 10.11s, ending the country's more than four-decade wait for a podium finish in the blue riband event since Datuk Rabuan Pit won gold at the 1982 edition in New Delhi.

-- BERNAMA