KUALA LUMPUR: It is unfortunate that the men’s 1km time trial will not be contested in the Beijing Olympics but track cyclist Rizal Tisin is taking things in his stride.
Rather than brooding over it, Rizal is determined to fight hard to make sure he is named as the third rider for the team sprint, in which Malaysia have qualified for the Olympics for the first time.
Three members will ride in the team sprint and coach John Beasley is expected to name a reserve.
Well rewarded: The national track cyclists (from left) Mohd Edrus Yunus, Junaidi Nasir, Rizal Tisin, Azizul Hasni Awang and Fatehah Mustafa showing off the mock cheques they received yesterday for winning medals in last week’s Asian Championships in Japan. And the Australian has the option of choosing Rizal, Mohd Edrus Yunus, Josiah Ng, Azizul Hasni Awang and Junaidi Nasir, who is on the comeback trail after a long lay-off due to a back injury.
Rizal, who only started riding the 1km time trial last year, could have fancied a shot at bagging an Olympic medal if it was contested in Beijing, considering his latest effort in the World Track Championships in Manchester last month.
The 22-year-old produced a new national record of 1:02.409 en route to finishing fifth. Holland’s Teun Mulder clocked 1:01.332 for the gold.
“My intention is to be able to go down to 1:01 by next year. No Asian rider has managed to do that yet and that will ensure a medal finish in the World Championships.
“I am targeting this to ensure I am in a strong position to win the gold in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.
“For the Commonwealth Games, it would be harder to fight for the gold because the British and Australian riders will be there,” said Rizal, who won the 1km time trial gold in the Asian Championships in Nara, Japan, on Sunday.
Rizal set a new national outdoor track record of 1:04.345 and it was the second time he bagged an Asian title after winning the keirin title in the 2006 edition in Kuala Lumpur.
“I’m a bit disappointed that the Beijing Games do not have the 1km time trial race. I am ranked seventh and would have qualified outright. But there’s nothing I can do but hope it is reinstated for the next Olympics in London in 2012.
“What I can do is to make sure I impress the coach in training and be named as the third rider for the team sprint campaign in Beijing,” said Rizal.
Yesterday, the National Sports Council (NSC) handed out cash incentives totalling RM50,000 to the track cyclists who won medals in the Asian Championships.
Azizul received the biggest share of RM21,666 for bagging two individual golds in the keirin and 200m sprint while Rizal collected RM11,666.
Woman cyclist Fatehah Mustafa received RM10,000 for winning two silvers at the championships.
No comments:
Post a Comment