Olympics-Cycling-‘Pocket rocket’ wins Malaysia’s first track medal (Reuters)
By Stephen Eisenhammer RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Eight years after carrying Malaysia’s flag at the opening of the Beijing Olympics, Azizulhasni Awang finally fulfilled the dream of winning his country’s first ever track cycling medal on Tuesday. Awang, nicknamed the ‘pocket rocket’ because of his small stature, came third in the men’s keirin at the Rio Olympics, earning a bronze medal for a country with little heritage in a sport dominated by Europe and Australia. After disappointment in London and Beijing, the 28-year-old who suffered an horrific injury in 2011 when part of a wooden track pierced his leg, finished just behind the Netherlands’s Matthijs Buchli in a race won by Britain’s Jason Kenny.