NILAI, May 23 — Young national track cyclist Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom captured his second gold medal when he emerged triumphant in the men’s elite 1-kilometre (km) time trial event in the National Track Cycling Championships 2024 at the National Velodrome here today.
The 23-year-old, who helped Johor win gold in the team sprint event on Monday (May 20), was in a class of his own today as he powered home in one minute and 01.529 seconds (s).
Melaka’s Muhammad Hafiq Mohd Jafri (1:04.079s) took silver while Buceros Cycling Team’s Ahmad Safwan Ahmad Nazeri (1:04.167s) settled for bronze.
Muhammad Ridwan had also won a silver and bronze in the men’s elite sprint and keirin events, in addition to recording two personal bests in the sprint and 1km time trial events.
“My achievements here are due to the support from everyone, especially my coach who always gives me something positive to take with me for races. Two days ago, my legs didn’t feel so good in the sprint event but I brushed it aside and rode to a silver.
“Then, yesterday, I felt kind of anxious about today’s race but I continued to move forward and never expected to strike gold,” Muhammad Ridwan, who clocked 9.929s in the sprint event to erase his previous personal best, told reporters here today.
Meanwhile, rising star Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri also shone when she dominated the women’s elite 500m time trial final by clocking 34.254s to leave her rivals trailing, with Selangor’s Yong Ann Tun (36.006s) coming in second and Penang’s Nurul Aliana Syafika Azizan (36.097s) third.
That is the 20-year-old’s fourth gold medal in the championships after emerging triumphant in the keirin, sprint and team sprint events and this bodes well for her as she gears up to make her Olympic debut in Paris in July.
“Overall, the competition was quite tough. I still need to work on a lot of tactical and technical things for both the keirin and sprint as I will be competing in both events at the Olympics. So, I will focus on these two events from now (until the Paris Olympics),” said the Kedah-born cyclist.
Nurul Izzah, 2020 Tokyo Olympics keirin silver medallist Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom are the three national track cyclists who have qualified for the Paris Olympics on merit.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur’s Newjoe Lau and Yeong Zhen Yi clinched the men’s and women’s individual pursuit gold medals. — Bernama
