Track cyclist Rizal hunting for a job to safeguard his future
By LIM TEIK HUAT
PETALING JAYA: Track cyclist Rizal Tisin has put off his return to Melbourne for training to look for a job.
But he insisted that this didn’t mean he was giving up his cycling career.
The Malaysian track cylists €” Azizul Hasni Awang, Mohd Edrus Yunus, Junaidi Nasir and Fatehah Mustafa €” left for Melbourne to resume training under Australian coach John Beasley two days ago after their month’s break for the Hari Raya holidays.
But Rizal, Asia’s current top ranked rider in the 1km time trial, has opted to stay back and look for a job to fall back on in case things go wrong.
“I am already 24 and I think it’s time I started to think about my future. What happens if I cannot cycle anymore?,” said the two-time Asian champion.
“I am looking for a job which will give me the security to provide for myself after I retire.
“But as soon as I have sorted this out, I will return to Melbourne to train with the team.”
Rizal said he had sent in an application to join the police force, like some of his former team-mates in the national cycling squad.
Rizal, the third youngest in a family of four siblings, is surviving on the allowance he gets from the National Sports Council (NSC) as a full-time athlete.
While here, Rizal will train under back-up coach Fairoz Izni Abdul Ghani in Kuala Lumpur based on the programme drawn up by Beasley.
“I should be back in Melbourne by February as I want to compete in the World Championships in Poland in March.
“I still have my eyes on making the 2012 Olympics in London,” said Rizal, who featured in the Beijing Olympics in August.
Rizal has qualified automatically for the world meet by virtue of winning the Asian title in the 1km time trial but he will definitely miss the majority of the World Cup season if he only joins the team in February.
The national track team are slated to compete in four legs of the World Cup circuit, beginning with the second-leg in Melbourne next month.
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