Azeem said though he can be happy for achieving the target of retaining the title as the fastest sprinter in the country and able to compete against the best sprinters in the country, it did not provide the ultimate satisfaction.
“I must admit that I have not been able to set a commendable time since the Asian Games last year, but my main objective here was to enjoy the competition without putting any pressure on myself but rather make the fans happy.
“There were several factors that prevented, maybe the head wind and the fact that I have not recovered 100 percent after a hectic long journey from the US,” he told reporters after the race last night.
In the race, Armed Forces athlete Jonathan Nyepa came in second with a time of 10.54 seconds while Efrain Feerzan Khan from Pahang clocked 10.61 seconds to finish third.
The 20-year-old athlete from Teluk Intan, Perak who holds the national record of 10.09 seconds, said he would try to do better and maybe set a better time when taking part in the Kazakhstan Open next week.
“My dream and target is to become the first athlete from Malaysia to dip under the 10-second mark. It is not impossible but a lot of preparation is needed to be ready for such an assault, including good rest.
“I am still young and hope I will be given space and time, maybe two to three years, to reach the top of my performance,” he said.
Azeem’s season best this year is 10.24s which he had set during the LSU Invitational Athletics Championships in Los Angeles on April 27.
Meanwhile, in the women’s 100m final, Zaidatul Husniah from the Armed Forces crowned herself as the top sprinter in the country by taking the gold with a time of 11.79s, followed by Nur Afrina Batrisyia Moha from Selangor with a time of (11.87 seconds) while Terengganu’s Azreen Nabila Alias came in third (12.21 seconds).
The three-day 2024 Malaysian Open Athletics Championships which started on Friday, featured 578 athletes from 17 contingents within Malaysia and eight foreign countries, including from Australia and Russia.