KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 — Athletics coach M. Balamurugan wants sprinter Azreen Nabila Alias to use the Tokyo Olympics as an opportunity to gain invaluable experience on the global stage.
He also advised her to just relax, take it easy and go all out to achieve her best timing when she competes in the women’s 100-metre event at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.
Realising that Azreen only received a last-minute wildcard slot to the July 23-Aug 8 Tokyo Olympics, the coach said that he and the National Sports Institute (NSI) were working around the clock on the psychological aspect to help the 21-year-old perform better in her Olympic debut.
“I don’t want Azreen to feel demoralised and anxious when she competes against the world’s best sprinters in the Olympics.
“I hope the psychological aspect that we are working on right now will stand her in good stead. She’s still young and has the potential to go far in athletics,” he told Bernama when contacted today.
Azreen has a personal best of 11.81 seconds in the 100m dash, which she clocked at the 2018 Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Perak.
After national high jumper Lee Hup Wei qualified on merit for the Tokyo Olympics, World Athletics offered the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) an Olympic wildcard for a female athlete to compete in Tokyo and Azreen got the nod.
The last time Azreen competed on the international stage was at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, where she returned home with a bronze in the 4x100m.
On his target for the 1.55m tall Azreen, coach Balamurugan felt it would not be impossible for her to break her personal best, provided she manages to stay focused.
However, Balamurugan admitted that, based on her performance in training, a more realistic timing for her would be between 11.9s and 12.2s.
Azreen’s best time this season is 12.00s, which she achieved in April en route to beating her more illustrious compatriots S. Komalam Shally of Perak and Johor’s Siti Fatimah Mohamad to the 100m gold at the Malaysian Grand Prix Championship.
“We know that this is all last-minute preparation and I don’t want to put any pressure on her by setting a specific target in Tokyo. But I hope she can just seize the moment there,” he said.
The Sitiawan-born coach admitted to being surprised by her last-minute call-up for the Tokyo Olympics, adding that it forced him to change her training regime from preparation mode to full-on competition mode.
The Royal Malaysian Navy warrant officer also said that he was actually preparing the Terengganu-born athlete for the now-postponed SEA Games in Vietnam, the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou and the 2024 Paris Olympics. — Bernama
