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Tuesday December 23, 2008

Cyclist Josiah: Don’t write me off

By LIM TEIK HUAT

Track cyclist continues to produce results

PETALING JAYA: The young riders are making inroads for Malaysia but track cyclist Josiah Ng is not ready to give up his turf yet as indicated with his performance in Melbourne last week.

Josiah caused a major upset by winning the Melbourne Cup on Wheels at the Hisense Arena to become the first non-Australian winner in the event’s 72-year history.

He got the better of two-time Olympic gold medallist Graeme Brown, who finished second for the consecutive year. Another Australian, Michael Downing, finished third.

The Melbourne Cup on Wheels is one of Australia’s biggest track cycling events and the winner is decided over a series of heats, culminating with a 2,000m eight-lap race.

A powerhouse: Josiah showed that he still has a lot left in him by winning the prestigious Melboune Cup.

For Josiah, earning his place in Australian cycling history in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,000 could not have come at a better time.

Josiah also placed his victory as his second best behind a fifth-place finish in keirin at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

“It felt really great to win such a prestigious race,” he said in a telephone interview from Melbourne yesterday.

“I did not train that hard because I was not feeling too well. I was coughing for the past few days before the event. I just went down to race since I have entered for it and I won unexpectedly.”

His latest win will go some ways to restoring confidence in his ability to still challenge at the highest level as he fights for attention with Asian champions Azizul Hasni Awang and Rizal Tisin, who have hogged the limelight this year.

Azizul chalked up a historic win for Malaysia, bagging the keirin gold medal in the UCI Track World Cup meet in Melbourne while Rizal lowered his 1km time trial national mark to 1:02.095 from 1:02.409 in taking silver in the Victorian championships recently.

And Josiah, two months shy of his 29th birthday, said that his passion for the sport was still burning strong.

“I beat the Australian national track riders and my team-mate, Azizul, in the keirin event in the Perth Grand Prix early this month,” said the two-time Olympian.

“I also made it to the knockout rounds of the 200m sprint for the first time in three seasons and managed to finish among the top five in the World Cup in Melbourne.

“People can talk all they want about me being past my prime. But I’m as strong as before and I am motivated more than ever ... I will just let my riding do the talking for me.”

Josiah did not ride in the keirin at the World Cup in Melbourne as each country can only have one rider in the fray.

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