Ahmad Faizal impressed with Azizulhasni's sheer determination

He said the cyclist, who underwent major heart surgery on April 21, was strong in facing challenges after being found to have a rare heart condition known as anomalous aortic origin of right coronary artery (AAORCA).

Ahmad Faizal said the Mohd Azizulhasni, 34, had also shown very good recovery to be able to continue training in a few months' time.

"I was in contact with him daily before his surgery. He was very focused on undergoing surgery and his post-surgery recovery has been good... I am really impressed with him.

"We pray that he will recover soon and quickly get back to training. He is our best bet for the Paris Olympics 2024," he told a media conference after a Hari Raya Aidilfitri reception with the Malaysian contingent to the Hanoi SEA Games at the National Sports Council (NSC) here today.

Yesterday, national sports fans were stunned when Mohd Azizulhasni announced that he had undergone the open-heart surgery at the Epworth Richmond Hospital, Melbourne.

In AAORCA cases like Azizul's, both the coronary arteries arise from the same aortic sinus, which then causes some problems, such as a lack of blood in the heart muscles, bringing the risk of cardiac arrest and sudden death if not treated immediately.

Ahmad Faizal said his ministry, the NSC, National Sports Institute (NSI) and National Heart Institute (IJN) had constantly monitored the condition of Mohd Azizulhasni, who won the silver medal in the keirin event at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

"We cooperated with (IJN senior consultant cardiothoracic surgeon-cum-sports director) Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Jeswant Dillon and he was constantly in touch with the specialists from Australia. We also sent Dr Jeswant to monitor for himself the surgery.

"It was not purposely kept a secret, but to respect Datuk Azizul's wish that he be given space to focus on undergoing the surgery," he said.