ASIAN championship gold medallist Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri (pic) went through a big reality check in the women’s 500m time trial at Lee Valle Velodrome.
The Kedah-born cyclist clocked 35.871s but it was only good enough to take 16th spot in the field of 22 participants on Sunday.
Izzah clocked 35.499s when she won gold at the Asian meet in New Delhi last month, which paved her way for inclusion in the squad for the Commonwealth Games.
Fellow Malaysian Anis Amira Rosidi was placed 15th with 35.503s.
It must have been a bummer for the two Commonwealth Games debutants not to come close to the national record of 34.542s set by Fatehah Mustapa back in the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur but track coach John Beasley had pointed out that earlier the stint was only an exposure for them.
Kristina Clonan set a new Games record of 33.234s en route to taking gold in her Games debut for Australia.
Tokyo Olympic Games sprint champion Kelsey Mitchell of Canada took silver with 33.294s ahead of England’s Sophie Capewell, who clocked 33.522s for the bronze.
Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom’s bid for a second medal in Birmingham ended when he lost in three heats to Matthew Richardson of Australia in the quarter-finals.
The Australian sprinter went on to take gold after beating Nicholas Paul of Trinidad and Tobago in two heats in the final.
Paul won the keirin event on Saturday ahead of Scotland’s Jack Carlin and Shah Firdaus.
