NILAI, Sept 21 — Terengganu track cyclist Nor Aisyah Munirah Chek Ramli rocked the National Velodrome here when she broke the national record in the women’s 3km individual pursuit to claim gold at the 20th Malaysia Games (Sukma) today.

Nor Aisyah clocked 3 minutes 47.551 seconds to beat teammate Ezzatie Fifiyana Shazwanie Shaiful Hisham who took silver.

Even sweeter, the Kuala Terengganu rider admitted she did not expect to erase the record of her idol Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir who set the record of 3:47.638 at the Nation Cup held in Cali, Colombia, last year.

“Honestly, I did not target (to win) this event because I believed other riders are stronger than me. I also can’t believe that I can break the record of my idol who is also my training partner, Nur Aisyah (Zubir) this time,” she said.

Nor Aisyah, who was part of the silver-winning women’s road team at the 2021 SEA Games in Hanoi last May, said the experience of racing at the biennial games really helped her shine in Sukma this time.

In addition to today’s gold, she has also won three silvers in the women’s highway team, omnium, team pursuit and bronze in the women’s road race.

Meanwhile, Perak rider Nyo Ci Hui timed 3:50.070s to clinch the bronze by defeating Nurqadrina Emylia Norzali of Selangor.

After winning the men’s sprint gold last Monday, national rider Muhammad Ridhwan Sahrom representing Johor maintained his excellent cycling to dominate the men’s 1km time trial with 1:02.857s.

Silver went to Mohamad Zakwan Hamidon of Perak (1:03.296s) while bronze belonged to Selangor’s Khow Yong Kiat (1:03.697s).

Muhammad Ridhwan told Bernama that he was satisfied when he was able to achieve his personal target of two gold medals at Sukma this time and is looking forward to chase a third gold in the men’s keirin tomorrow.

“However, I still need to be careful in the keirin tomorrow, especially the challenge from Perak and Kedah riders,” he said.

The men’s omnium category saw Negri Sembilan’s Abdul Azim Aliyas chalk 170 points to emerge champion, followed by Wan Abdul Rahman Hamdan for the silver medal (155 points) and Lim Chun Kiat of Sabah taking home the bronze (144 points). — Bernama