NOTHING much was expected from young track cyclist Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri (pic) as she was making her Olympic debut.
But the 20-year-old put up a creditable display to give the top cyclists a run for their money in the first round of women’s keirin at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome yesterday.
Diminutive Izzah, who only stands at 1.52m, ran a close third in the repechage first round heat to miss out on advancing to the quarter-finals.
Izzah was just behind Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell of Canada and Britain’s Katy Marchant.
Izzah had to race in the repechage after she finished fourth in her first round heat won by Britain’s Emma Finucane.
Marchant, Finucane and Sophie Capewell had featured for Britain in the women’s team sprint trio to blitz to a new world record time en route to taking gold on Monday.
The two top finishers from the first round heats advance to the quarter-finals and they would be joined by the top two from the repechage heats.
Izzah, who is from Sungai Petani, still have the sprint event to look forward to this Saturday.
Izzah claimed two gold, one silver and one bronze at the Asian Championships in New Delhi in February, which helped her secure Olympic qualification earlier than she had expected.
Track coach John Beasley had only targeted for Izzah to qualify for the Los Angeles Games in 2028 but now with the experience gained from Paris, she is expected to shine in four years time.
