Glitter on the road (SEPTEMBER 17 - 23)
Cyclists cap dream finish with golds in six events
MALAYSIA ended the Kuala Lumpur Asean Para Games cycling competition on a high – winning all six road race events they contested in at Putrajaya.
Mohd Najib Turano timed his final sprint to perfection by breaking away in the last lap to claim his fourth gold of the Games in the men’s C4 road race yesterday (The C categories are for cyclists who have lost the use of their arm or leg).
The 30-year-old completed the 49.2km race in 1’24:11 to finish ahead of Filipino Godfrey Experanzate and Muhd Fadli Immamuddin of Indonesia.
Najib, who won the individual road time trial on Wednesday, had also come out tops in two track events – the 1km time trial and 4km individual pursuit.
“I am very satisfied as I’ve achieved what I set out to do at the start of the Games.
“The road race today was the most difficult test as outside factors like the wind and weather could disrupt our plan.
“Thankfully, everything fell into place,” said Najib, who lost the use of his left leg after a motorcycle accident in Rawang six years ago.
Najib was not the only big winner for Malaysia yesterday.
The women’s tandem pairing of Nur Azlia Syafinaz- Adila Nora- idillina ended their remarkable campaign with a show of resilience and fighting spirit to romp to their fourth gold in the women’s (B) road race.
Nur Azlia- Adila completed the 61.5km race in 1’ 55: 17, ahead of Singaporeans Emily LeeSarah Tan (2’17:00).
Nur Azlia, who has been visually impaired since birth, has never experienced riding on a bicycle before June.
The Kuala Lumpur Asean Para Games is the first competition for both of them.
Nur Azlia- Adila’s other wins were in the 1km time trial, sprint and 4km individual pursuit on the track. They took the silver in the individual road time trial on Wednesday.
The other golds yesterday came from Alvin Lim (men’s handcycling), Ahmad Syazwan Roshdi ( men’s C1/ C2/ C3 combined), Ahmad Tarmizi Zuhairie (men’s C4) and Mohd Faizal Mohd NohAiman Asyraff Ahmad Bajuri (men’s tandem B).
Cycling contributed a total of 22 golds for Malaysia at these Games, including a clean sweep of all 12 in track cycling at the National Velodrome in Nilai earlier this week.