Ace cyclist Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam set up a new national record in 1km time trial as he won a silver medal in the 1km individual time trial at the Asian Track Cycling Championship in Niali, Malaysia.
Ronaldo Singh’s silver medal in the sprint event was India’s first-ever individual silver medal at the continental meet.
The 21-year-old Indian completed his race at the National Velodrome in 1:00.863, just behind Malaysia’s Muhammad Fadhil Mohd Zonis, who topped the time trial in 1:00.559. Korea’s Woorim Choi claimed bronze in 1:01.541.
Ronaldo Singh’s timing of 1:00.863 is also new national record in 1km time trial, surpassing his own previous national record of 1:01.724, achieved last year.
Apart from Ronaldo Singh, Vishwajit Singh in 4000m individual pursuit, Meenakshi in women’s 3000m individual pursuit and the Indian women’s team in 3000m pursuit also achieved new national records.
Vishwajit Singh clocked 3:42.822 to finish ninth. The old record stood at 3:50.223. Meenakshi finished sixth with a time of 4:28.812 and beat the previous national record of 4:31.380. The women’s team, meanwhile, rewrote the previous national mark of 4:44.699 with a timing of 4:44.395 for sixth place.
The medal in Malaysia was Ronaldo Singh’s third individual medal at the Asian championships and his fourth overall.
Last week, he clocked the national record timing of 9.877s in the sprint, an Olympic event, to progress to the round of 16 at the Asian championships. However, he bowed out of the event with an 11th-place finish.
At the 2022 edition held in New Delhi, Ronaldo won a bronze medal in the same event. He was also part of the sprint team that won a bronze
medal.
The Asian Track Cycling Championship 2023 is a qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Cyclists collect ranking points for the
Summer Games. However, the 1km individual time trial is a non-Olympic event.
