WHILE we feel for Malaysia's track cyclist Datuk Azizulhasni Awang during this Paris 2024 Olympics, we should not be carried away by emotions and fail to look at the facts rationally.
Former Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's posting is simply irresponsible. Is he trying to create international racial discord in cycling?
What happened in Rio 2016 Olympics had nothing to do with the race of the riders involved, but simply the regulations that were in effect then, where for jumpstarts the riders were given a warning and the race was restarted, without disqualification.
But right after the Rio Olympics, in October 2016, the UCI had reviewed the regulations and enforced disqualification for riders who commit the error. It is the same as in athletics sprint races.
This may be because jumpstarts and disputes over them had been so frequent that they disrupted the schedules of cycling races throughout the world, not just at the Olympics.
Teams and riders have been aware of the new regulations since 2016. So there is no valid reason to argue based on what happened at the Rio Olympics.
Azizul himself has admitted and faced up to the error in his social media posting, which was unfortunate given that this was his last appearance at the Olympics.
While taking nothing away from what Azizulhasni has achieved in the sport and for the nation, we should not use this incident to incite racial discord within cycling.
Please leave your politics of identity out of the sport. Khairy, as a vice president of the Malaysian National Cycling Federation should have been aware of the changes in regulations before hand.
We had already seen the worst at the Tokyo Olympics where a British cyclist had to endure senseless cyber bullying from Malaysian netizens simply because he was involved in a race incident which led to a Malaysian cyclist crashing out.
Sportsmanship is not just about taking photos with rival athletes, it is about having the humility to be gracious in defeat and about respect for the sport itself.
ARNAZ M. KHAIRUL is a sportswriter, media consultant and former South East Asia representative of the International Association of Cycling Journalists (AIJC). The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.