His performances in the world athletics under-20 championships at Cali, Colombia – 10.09s in round one, 10.19s in the semi-finals and 10.14s in the final – were epic.
The mesmerising timings attained in super competitive fields over two days are the quickest in Malaysian 100m history.
At the age of 18, Azeem is on the upgrade and his fifth placing in the 100m final early today (Malaysian time) is seen as just the beginning for him to shine on the world stage.
No Malaysian has made a global final in track events and Azeem’s heroics have in some way restored faith in Malaysian athletics which has suffered a sense of emptiness in recent times.
Azeem was unknown in track circles and even the world feed commentator erroneously referred to him as “from the Philippines” while commenting on his stellar 10.14s run in the 100m final.
While he still has to run in the 200m tomorrow, his experience in the 100m is a fine, heartening story of a young talent whose absorbing acceleration captivated many.
He was the second fastest among the 60 runners in eight heats, running the quickest 100m in history by a Malaysian athlete in a blistering 10.09s that cracked the national record of 10.18s set by Khairul Hafiz Jantan in 2016.
He blazed the track like a bullet train to the astonishment of everyone. The rest were nowhere.
In the semi-finals, he finished second in 10.19s and was sixth best among the finalists, sparking speculation he was saving his best for the final.
As they lined up for the final about three hours later, it was impossible to tell from Azeem’s calm demeanour whether he could find an extra gear.
He could not. He finished behind 16-year-old Thai sensation Puripol Boonson (10.12s) and ahead of Japan’s Hiroki Yanagita, 19, (10.24s), Laurenz Colbert of the US (10.24s) and Cuban Reynaldo Espinosa (10.32s).
The winner was Letsile Tebogo of Botswana who clocked 9.91s and set a new world Under-20 record, while Bouwahjgie Nkrumie of Jamaica took silver (10.02s) and South African Benjamin Richardson was third (10.12s).
After the race, Azeem tweeted, “Fifth fastest in the world. Thank you Malaysia”, prompting many Malaysians to encourage him to keep dreaming big.
Track excitement continues today with Shereen Samson Vallabouy running the 400m in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham at 5.46pm Malaysian time.
She will run in lane eight in a tough heat three that will feature seasoned quarter-milers, Sada Williams of Barbados and England’s Jodie Williams who have a personal best of 49.75 and 49.97, respectively.
Shereen has the second slowest season and personal best of 52.68 among the eight runners with 52.68. The first three in each heat and the next four fastest advance to the semi-finals.