From Nurul Izzati Mansor
SURABAYA, July 2 (Bernama) -- National sprinter Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi is ready for action at the 2024 Paris Olympics if the Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) chooses to give him the wild card to the championship held every four years.
He, however, said he would be open-minded and accept all the decisions made by the country's governing body if the 20-year-old runner was not selected to bring the country's challenge to the prestigious sports games.
"If I am given a month to go to the Olympic Games (this) I will be ready, if there is no Olympic Games I will go to Sukma (Malaysian Games)... Of course I will try my best, and on returning to Malaysia, I will practise harder and be smart.
"I will also accept it if I don't have the chance," he told reporters after competing in the men's 100 metres (m) sprint event at the ASEAN University Games (AUG) 2024 today.
MAF will announce whether to choose Muhammad Azeem or the national women's 400 metres (m) runner, Shereen Samson Vallabouy to fill the wild card ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games tomorrow.
In the men's 100m sprint final which took place at the Surabaya University Athletic Field here, Muhammad Azeem won the silver medal with a time of 10.37 seconds (s) behind host sprinter Lalu Muhammad Zohri who clocked 10.19s.
The bronze medal went to Jaelani Fatah Sidek also of Indonesia with a time of 10.59s.
Commenting on today's run, Muhammad Azeem admitted that he was not at his best but was grateful to be able to finish the run safely.
At the same time, he also shared that he suffered several minor injuries before which forced him to undergo a healing period from February to April.
"I'm not trying to make an excuse, on the track it's normal as an athlete there will be minor injuries, the coaches are aware and MAF is also aware and I have not participated in many events in the United States.
"We just want to prevent worsening the injury, now I'm getting better, mentally and physically 100 per cent better," he said.
-- BERNAMA
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