SEPANG, 17 April 2017 - AirAsia is pleased to congratulate Azizulhasni Awang on his recent win and concurrently launched its 2017 sports initiative - #DARETODREAM - in an event held today with the Keirin World Champion, Azizulhasni Awang.

The #DARETODREAM initiative is AirAsia’s continuous commitment as a dream-enabler to grow the local sports scene while supporting Malaysian athletes from all levels with a single goal in mind - to put the nation on the world map.

Three national pride will make up among the AirAsia athletes line-up under the initiative including track cyclists Azizulhasni Awang and Fatehah Mustapa along with diver Leong Mun Yee.

Aireen Omar, CEO of AirAsia said, “We are very proud of Azizulhasni and happy to celebrate his recent world title at AirAsia RedQ today. This year is the year of sports for us which will see a more meaningful and deeper engagement with the sports community. We are pleased to work with a number of renowned athletes in our #DARETODREAM programme, where our efforts will not only focus on the young, aspiring local talents but we also want to expand it to the Asean level as the region is indeed home to an abundance of talents.

“Celebrating the victory of our Asean Olympics medallists last year was the mark of a new beginning, a new hope and a new dream. Sports is about hard work and passion driven by dreams in the very first place. We hope that through the #DARETODREAM platform, we can inspire and enable the dreams of up-and-coming athletes so they can discover their own potential and go from Asean to the world.”

Azizulhasni Awang, Malaysian track cyclist and Keirin World Champion said, "I started my career in cycling with a dream and last Thursday, my dream to be the World Champion became a reality. I have more big dreams on the list and I will never quit to make it happen.

"This initiative by AirAsia in supporting the sports industry is a boost to athletes like me who have dedicated our lives to sports. Apart from that, it is also a good platform to help young talents to explore opportunities so they can excel and achieve their goals in sports. I am honoured to be a part of the #DARETODREAM campaign and I can't wait to fly high with AirAsia."

Azizulhasni Awang is a true embodiment of the campaign displaying an unyielding passion and sheer determination throughout his entire sports career. Despite challenges or setbacks, he did not let any deter his dreams and after ten years of eyeing the coveted title, he is now Malaysia’s first world champion to compete in an Olympic sport.

AirAsia has been instrumental in many sports initiatives over the years including football, motorsports, badminton, basketball and more.

Under the #DARETODREAM campaign this year, the airline has since ventured into exciting forays such as the annual Talent Pool coaching clinics with British Olympic swimmer Ben Proud, working with promising bodybuilder athlete Faiz Ariffin and go-kart driver Muizzuddin Musyaffa, sponsorships of the AirAsia Malaysia Rugby League for rugby and AirAsia KL Junior League for youth football, with more plans in the pipeline.

AirAsia also recently announced its participation for the 29th SEA Games and 9th Asean Para Games as the Official Airline Partner and Gold Sponsor.

Follow the AirAsia’s sports journey through the hashtag #daretodream or Twitter (twitter.com/AirAsia) and Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsia) for latest AirAsia news and activities.