Rayzam hopes to emulate Nur Herman

Rayzam who won gold at the Sea Games needs to match the qualifying mark of 13.72s by July to make the Beijing Olympics.

NO Malaysian hurdler has qualified for the Olympics since Nur Herman Majid made it to Atlanta in 1996 but Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian hopes to put that right this year.

Rayzam, 20, has fast emerged as the nation's most exciting track prospect but the Sea Games 110m hurdles gold medallist is still waiting for word from the Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union's (MAAU) on what is in store for him this season.

All Rayzam can expect for now is to compete in the three-leg Asian Grand Prix series in June but no other meet has yet to be lined up for him prior to that.

"Neither I nor my coach (Raymie Bakar) have heard from MAAU. So far, they have said I will run in the Asian GP series but nothing else," said Rayzam by telephone from Kota Kinabalu yesterday.

Rayzam, with a personal best of 13.91s, needs to run in as many competitions as possible if he is to match the 13.72s qualification mark for the Beijing Olympics by July.
"I will also run in the Malaysia Games (in Terengganu at end-May) but I do not know if that will be my first outdoor race this season," added the former World Junior Championship semi-finalist.

Rayzam has so far run only indoors in the 60m hurdles this year at the Asian Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar and the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain. He clocked a blistering 7.96s in the heats in Doha before finishing fourth in the final but only managed 8.26s in Valencia.

"Running indoors was very different and it is only this year I have done the 60m. My strength lies in the middle of the race and I think the 60m was too short for me. It was over in a flash," hesaid reflecting on his indoor experience.

The Asian GP takes place in Bangkok (June 23), Korat (June 26) and Hanoi (June 30).

NST