Loving it in Paris: Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan (front) with para track cyclist Nur Suraiya Mohd Zamri.
FORMER able bodied track rider Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan is living her dream on the biggest stage.
Farina is the pilot for blind partner Nur Suraiya Mohd Zamri who are representing Malaysia in the women’s para track cycling competition at Paris Paralympics.
The medal rounds of the women’s (B) 1km time trial may have been out of their reach but the duo can still hold their heads up high after smashing the national record at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome yesterday.
Suraiya and Farina clocked 1:12.992s to erase their previous record of 1:13.434s they set en route to winning the gold medal in the event at the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou last year.
Suraiya-Farina finished eighth overall in the qualification round with only the top six going through to the final last night.
Britain’s Elizabeth Jordan-Dannielle Khan laid down the marker with 1:06.870s ahead of Australia’s Jessica Gallagher-Caitlin Ward, who produced the second fastest time of 1:07.214s.
For 28-year-old Farina, her career certainly took a complete turn as it was only a few years ago when she represented Malaysia in track cycling at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
She was once touted to replace two-time Olympian Fatehah Mustapa as the nation’s top woman track cyclist.
Farina even went to train in Melbourne, Australia under coach John Beasley and was a member of the gold medal winning team sprint combination when Malaysia hosted the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.
But she later joined the police force and could not commit to the training programme.
“It was around the Covid time when they asked if I was willing to become a pilot to guide Suraiya with the plan to qualify for Paralympics,” said Farina, who graduated three years ago.
“So here we are. It is hard as we are a new pair fighting with the established cyclists but our target was to at least break the national record.
“I can’t believe I’m riding on the Paralympics stage. I did not achieve that before ... it’s like a dream,” she said.
Suraiya-Farina, who were named the 2023 Best Paralympic female athletes, will shift focus to (B) road race on Sept 6.
Meanwhile, Mohd Adi Raimie Amizazahan finished seventh in the men’s (C1) 3km individual pursuit qualification round with 3:47.922s.
