KUALA SELANGOR: From sleeping in a car to cut travelling cost to earning national recognition on the Malaysia Games (Sukma) stage.
The emotions almost got to Nurul Nabilah Mohd Asri as she rejoiced with her own Sukma breakthrough in her budding cycling career with Kedah.
The 21-year-old from Jitra claimed the women's cross country Olympic event in mountain bike after finishing the Lembah Peladang Agro Park course in 1'16:40.
Making it double sweet for Kedah contingent was teammate Zahra Afifah Zamri who came in second with 1'16:48.
Qisya Batrisyia Othman claimed the bronze for the hosts with 1'18:34.
Nabilah was delighted to make it to the top of the Sukma podium in the mountain bike discipline, thus following in the footsteps of her sister, who is none other than Paris Olympian Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri.
Izzah won the mountain bike gold medal for Kedah in the 2018 Sukma before she later made the transition to track cycling.
Nabilah attributed the win to her head coach Noor Alfizar Othman.
"She has been guiding me since I was 14. I remembered the earlier days when we had no budget to go for competitions outside Kedah," she said.
"There were so many times when we had to sit and sleep inside one car while attending the tournament.
"I stand up on the Sukma podium today and now I felt like it's worth all the sacrifice we made."
Kedah have now produced three champions in the cross country Olympic discipline in the last four editions, an achievement the state can be proud of despite operating with minimal budget.
"I got the gold for Kedah after winning silver previously in the 2024 Sukma in Sarawak," said Nabilah.
"This is my last Sukma appearance and I am proud to bring back the gold medal for Kedah.
She described her day as not an easy one as the riders had to contend with wet and slippery track conditions.
"It had rained heavily the day before. There were easy spots and there were difficult spots.
"I tried to take advantage of that to cover the weaknesses in the difficult spots," said Nabilah, who attributed her win to thorough preparation.
She deferred one semester of studies to focus on the Sukma mission.
"I trained hard as I wanted to change the colour of the medal. I followed the pace of the male racers and even though I was tired, I still had to train hard to push myself.
"Previously, I studied at UiTM Arau in Sports Management but I deferred my studies to focus fully on Sukma," she said.
Nabilah is not stopping at mountain bike glory as she has her sights set on doing well in the road and track events after this.
RESULTS
Cross country Olympic
Men: 1. Mohd Naufal Iman Mohd Fauzi (Ter) 1'07:28, 2. Saniy Syuaib Mohd Safiee (Ter) 1'07:41, 3. Mohd Effan Wafiy Nor Effandy (Ter) 1'10:12.
Women: 1. Nurul Nabilah Mohd Asri (Ked) 1'16:40, 2. Zahra Afifah Zamri (Ked) 1'16:48, 3.
Qisya Batrisyia Othman (Sel) 1'18:34.
