Nur Aisyah clinches gold in photo-finish
IT was a tale of contrasting fortunes for Terengganu cyclists Nur Aisyah Zubir and Sarawak’s Nurazrenna Ahmad Jumry.
Aisyah and Nurazrenna, as well as Selangor’s Nurul Alissa Azman and Pahang’s Siti Aisyah Alias, were bunched together in a scramble to the finishing line in the women’s individual 100km road race at Bandar Baru Samariang yesterday.
All four were timed at 2’50:42, but it was Aisyah who took gold after a photo-finish decision.
Nurul took silver while Nurazrenna ended up with the bronze.
If it’s any consolation, the 19-year-old Nurazrenna can take solace from the fact that she managed to deliver Sarawak’s first-ever Sukma medal in road race.
“After such a close finish, I’m disappointed that I only ended up with a bronze ... and not a gold,” said Nurazrenna, who joined the national back-up squad this year.
“I guess it’s my own fault because I was stuck in the middle and couldn’t find a way to break away.
“Anyway, I’m glad I’ve given Sarawak its first-ever road race medal, especially since I ran into all kinds of trouble today.
“I had a burst tyre after 10km and had to work incredibly hard to chase the peloton.”
Aisyah, meanwhile, was all smiles as she collected her third gold medal at this year’s Sukma, having also won the road race team event with Ezzatie Fifiyana Shazwanie, Sharifah Nur Ilyana and Nurul Najihah Inani.
Selangor took silver and Pahang bronze in the road race team event.
“Our target was to win the team event, so to finish with an individual gold medal is a bonus for me,” said Aisyah, who also won the individual 30km time trial on Friday.
“It was a tough race, especially at the start, but we worked well together to overtake the rest. The real breakthrough only came after the 60km mark.”
Terengganu have now won four gold medals in cycling and are just four short of their eight-gold target.