At the Yellow Jacket Invitational championship at Georgia Tech, the national record holder representing Auburn University, Alabama, secured third place in the men’s 100m with a time of 10.38s.

His teammate, Makanakaishe Charamba, came in second with a time of 10.28s while another teammate Kanyinsola Ajayi, clocked 10.21s to emerge as the winner.

The men’s 100m bronze medallist at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games then helped the Auburn University men’s 4x100m relay team, also comprising Charamba, Ajayi, and Dario Matau, win gold with an impressive time of 38.74s.

Missouri Sports University’s quartet came in second place with a time of 40.59s and third place went to Middle Tennessee University (40.71s).

The championship marks Azeem’s first outdoor competition this year after participating in several indoor meets in the US since January.

This was also Azeem’s last championship during the Ramadan month. He will be focusing on training in addition to observing fasting while abroad.

For the record, Azeem’s best time last year was 10.11s and his national record stands at 10.09s set at the Under-20 World Sports Championship 2022 in Cali, Colombia.

Azeem, who will turn 20 next month, needs to clock 10 seconds or better and place himself among the top 48 runners in the world rankings to realise his dream of making his Olympic debut in Paris in July.

Former national record holder Watson Nyambek was the last Malaysian athlete to compete in the men’s 100m at the Olympics, at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 editions, while former Southeast Asian sprint king Nazmizan Muhammad was the last national representative to compete in the men’s 200m, at the Athens 2004 edition.