Fatehah Mustapa rode her way to gold medals in the women’s sprint and keirin events at the Izu Velodrome in Shuzenji, Japan.
PETALING JAYA: Woman cyclist Fatehah Mustapa romped her way to a wonderful double victory in the Japan Track Cup 1.
The 26-year-old rode her way to gold medals in the women’s sprint and keirin events at the Izu Velodrome in Shuzenji, Japan.
Muhd Khairil Nizam Rasol made it three golds for Malaysia when he finished ahead of Taiwan’s Kang Shih-feng in the men’s junior keirin event.
Muhd Fadhil Mohd Zonis, the reigning Asian champion in men’s junior 1km time trial, came in third for the bronze medal.
But the star performer for Malaysia in the UCI Class I-sanctioned international cycling meet on Friday was Fatehah.
The Incheon Asian Games silver medallist opened accounts in wonderful fashion, topping the women’s sprint qualifying session in 11.408.
Fatehah then beat Takako Ishii of Japan in two heats to reach the final, where she chalked up a similar result over Cho Sun-young of South Korea for the gold medal.
Fatehah finished ahead of local challenger Mai Kajita of Japan and South Korea’s Lee Eun-ji in the women’s keirin final for her second gold medal of the day.
This is the first time in two years that Fatehah has made the top of the podium in an international cycling meet. This will surely boost her confidence as she gets ready for the final phase of the Olympic qualifying campaign in November.
Fatehah’s last track win was at the 2013 Asian Cycling Championships in New Delhi where she won the sprint title.
“We are competing in Japan and in China later this month to get the points for World Championships qualification next year.
“We need to be there at the World Championships in London next year as it will give us the points necessary to make the cut for the Rio Olympics,” said cycling coach John Beasley.
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