It’s a clean sweep on final day
Fatehah bags four golds and Azizul delivers as promised
FATEHAH Mustapa shed tears of joy while Azizulhasni Awang delivered on his promise to do a wheelie at the finish line as Malaysia made a clean sweep of all five golds contested on the final day of the cycling competition at the National Velodrome in Nilai, Negri Sembilan.
Fatehah became the first cyclist to win four golds in one SEA Games campaign after a powerful surge down the finish line to win the keirin final last night.
The 28-year-old Melbourne-based cyclist had earlier in the day smashed her national record en route to winning the women’s 500m time trial gold.
Fatehah posted 34.542 to crack her three-year-old national record of 34.667 set at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Two Indonesians – Crismonita Dwi Putri (36.165) and Santia Tri Kusuma (36.345) – took the silver and bronze.
Fatehah’s two earlier golds came in the team sprint with Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan.
Fatehah’s previous best at the Games was winning three golds in sprint, 500m time trial and team sprint with Jupha Somnet when track cycling was last contested in Indonesia in 2011.
“I did not have any medals at the Asian Cycling Championships in India earlier this year. So, coming here, I told myself that I will not settle for anything less than four golds.
“I’m happy I smashed my national record. My coach (John Beasley) is also happy that I’ve regained my form.
“It’s an amazing feeling to race in front of my home fans,” said Fatehah.
Azizul completed the perfect night for Malaysia by breezing to victory in the kei- rin final.
Wearing the rainbow jersey befitting his status as the reigning world champion, Azizul was just too strong for the rest of the field, with teammate Muhd Shariz Efendi Mohd Shahrin securing the silver.
The men’s 4km team pursuit had kicked off the day’s proceedings in style by setting a time of 4:09.999 in the qualifying run to reach the final.
The quartet of Afiq Huznie Othman, Irwandie Lakasek, Muhd Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff and Hamdan Hamidun overlapped Thailand to win the gold.