KUALA LUMPUR – National track cyclist Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri may be considered for inclusion in the Road to Gold (RTG) Fast Track programme in the future, according to RTG coordinator Datuk Stuart Ramalingam.
Speaking to Scoop, Stuart said that the 21-year-old will for sure be considered for the prestigious programme in the future, as the RTG committee is pleased with her progress.
“This decision will be made by the RTG committee later and will involve discussions with coach (and national track cycling technical director) John Beasley,” added Stuart when contacted.
Launched last year, the RTG programme aims to provide additional support to athletes with the potential to win Malaysia’s first Olympic gold medal at the Paris Olympics in July and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
The Fast Track initiative, introduced in February, identifies young athletes aged between 16 and 25 with the potential to win gold at LA2028.
Currently, only squash and diving are included in the Fast Track programme, with six athletes listed in the National Sports Council’s (NSC) latest high-performance initiative.
Among them are divers Bertrand Rhodict Lises, Enrique Maccartney Harold, and squash players Ng Eain Yow, S. Sivasangari, Aifa Azman, and Aira Azman.
Nurul Izzah recently made history by provisionally qualifying for the Paris Olympics in the women’s individual sprint and keirin disciplines of track cycling.
She will be making her Olympic bow four years early, as she was only expected to qualify for Los Angeles 2028.
But her fruitful outing at the Asian Track Cycling Championships in February, where she took home five medals, became the backbone for her qualification to Paris.
Standing tall at 152cm, Nurul Izzah won two golds in the keirin and 500m time trial, along with one silver in the team sprint and one bronze in the individual sprint.
All the Jitra-born sprinter needed to do was advance to the second round of the keirin at the Nations Cup in Milton, Canada last weekend and she ended up finishing eighth, her best finish this season in the UCI competition.
Previously, only Fatehah Mustapa had represented Malaysia in women’s track cycling, where she made her debut in London 2012 in the keirin and competed in the sprint at Rio 2016. – April 19, 2024