KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian para cyclist Muhammad Yusof Hafizi Shaharuddin remains resilient despite an early exit in his favourite event, the C1 (physical disability) 3,000m individual pursuit at the Paris Paralympics yesterday.
The Saint Quentin en Yvelines Velodrome is familiar ground for Yusof, where he clinched a bronze medal in the 1km time trial at the 2022 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships.
However, the Perak-born cyclist could only manage a fifth-place finish in the qualifying round, clocking in at 3min 55.254sec.
While Yusof fell short of medal contention in this event, his journey is far from over. He now sets his sights on redemption in the 1km time trial tomorrow.
“Every rider trains hard and has their own mission. I have my own mission too, and my coach set a goal for me to break my personal record by hitting 3min 53sec, but I managed to clock in at 3min 55sec.
“Still, it’s an improvement from my previous personal best of 4min 01.34sec, which I achieved in Brazil.
“People have advised me to do even better in the upcoming events and to never give up – to keep pushing forward because there are more events I’ll be competing in soon,” said Yusof.
However, it will be a tough challenge for Yusof in the 1km time trial tomorrow, as the race will combine three categories, C1 to C3, into one race.
This is a situation quite different from when Yusof won bronze at the World Championships two years ago, as he was competing only within his own category.
Besides the track cycling events, Yusof will also compete in two road events, which are the individual time trial and the road race, starting on September 4. – August 30, 2024