Md Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid Hj Md Idris has been in athletics for merely over eight years and has found his way to the top. The 24-year-old is currently the national record holder for the men's 200m event with a time of 21.39s, which he set at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur. BruSports News took a time out with him just as he heads over to Tokyo to compete in the Olympics.
Q: Tell us more about Md Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid.
A: My name is Firdaus but I'm better known as DausKhan. I'm turning 25 years old in October and a specialist in both the 100m and 200m events.
Besides running, I like to play futsal, football, dodgeball, frisbee and many more.
Q: When did you start in athletics and how did it happen?
A: I started in athletics back in May 2013 when I was 17 years old as I was a representative for my school to join the Olympic Day event organised by BDAF (Brunei Darussalam Athletics Federation).
I participated in the 100m and didn't expect to get the gold. I got bronze for the 200m run because I celebrated too early with around 30m left before the finish line.
The coach then became interested to train me to compete for the Brunei Open (junior category) in October the same year where I won gold in both the 100m and 200m events.
From there I moved on to join the national athletics team and my first event was at the Malaysia Open in Perlis back in 2014 where we broke the 4x100m national record of more than 15 years.
Q: Who is your favourite athlete and what are qualities you like about him?
A: Of course Usain Bolt because of his consistency, humble attitude and that he managed to maintain his performance to win the Olympic Gold medal and World Championship three times.
Q: What is your ultimate goal in athletics?
A: My ultimate goal is to win medals at the SEA Games and then reaching higher and breaking more records.
Q: How important is a good diet in athletics?
A: It is extremely important that we eat healthy and quality foods so that we're always in a good condition and energetic to do our daily training.
By that we will be more confident to achieve good results in every competition as well.
Q: What is your most memorable moment in the sport so far?
A: My most memorable moment was back in 2014 when I won the silver medal at the ASEAN school games. This is because I became the first Bruneian to win a medal in athletics at the Games.
Q: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
A: I'm not really sure but I still have a long way to go. I'm still going to go compete in major events and breaking more records.
Q: Did you ever expect to become an Olympian?
A: To be honest I've been waiting to go to the Olympics after having unsatisfactory results in the 200m at the 2019 SEA Games. (where he clocked a time of 21.84s in the Philippines.)
As I was eager to improve my time and perform better but unfortunately we couldn't do anything because of COVID-19.
So I wasn't hopeful on going to the Olympics this year but I kept on training just to stay fit and maintaining my time and performance.
Luckily I got selected to join the Olympics and I'm excited but also scared at the same time.
Q: What advice can you give to those who wish to follow in your footsteps?
A: My advice to them is that nothing comes easy. You cannot just train like one week just to improve your timing. You need almost everything - patience, hard work, dedication, time management and most importantly is to always trust the process.
Q: You hold records for both 200m and 4x100m. Do you personally prefer individual or relay race? What's the difference like?
A: I like both individual and relay. The specialty about relay is the teamwork and the bond, the motivation that we always give each other and most importantly the trust by knowing each other's capabilities.
Oh.. I miss my teammates, my relay mates! I wish they're still doing athletics but all of them have retired already.
Q: If not for athletics, what sports do you think you would be doing?
A: I might be doing football and futsal but I'm not sure that I can reach the professional levels because I already experienced bad injury back in high school. So I'm afraid to push more into those sports.
Q: Want to say anything before we end this interview?
A: I just want to say a big thank you to my family especially to both of my parents for always giving me endless support and pushing me to do better in athletics.
Also to my friends that have always been there to cheer me on and give motivation.
And lastly I would like to say thank you to the person who keeps pushing me to join athletics and make a comeback after season 2013 ended.
Here I am, because of her I'm able to become an Olympian and hold both the 4x100m and 200m records.
