KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 ― National track cycling champion, Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang has been given a boost in his preparation for the coming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris when he leapt to the third rank in the world keirin event as well as sixth rank for the sprint event.

In the latest rankings of the International Cycling Union (UCI), the Pocket Rocketman rose from 10th to third in the world behind Dutch cyclist, Harrie Lavreysen in the first place and Australian rider, Matthew Richardson in the second rank for keirin.

The sprint event, saw the Terengganu-born rider jumped from 19th position to occupy the sixth position behind the Japanese rider, Kaiya Ota in the fourth position and the Israeli rider, Mikhail Yakovlev in the fifth position.

The world first ranking of the sprint event remains unchanged with Lavreysen (Netherlands) topping the list followed by Richardson (Australia) in second and Mateusz Rudyk (Poland) in third position.

The latest position was achieved by the 35-year-old Malaysian rider following his excellent performance in winning double gold through the keirin and sprint events at the 2023 Asian Track Cycling Championship (ACC), recently.

"Thank God. My current world ranking has gone up a few rungs. As the picture shared with everyone, my current world ranking is Keirin ― 3 while Individual Sprint ― 6.

"It has certainly given me a shot in the arm to perform at the World Championships in Glasgow later and also a very positive step for the qualification process for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games,” said Mohd Azizulhasni in a sharing on his official Facebook page, today. ― Bernama