Cycling: Josiah to Prepare in France
Josiah Ng (back row, seventh from right) accompanied by Fedex Malaysia and Brunei managing director K. Don Premaseri (ninth from right) present the company’s contribution to children from Shelter Home 1 in Bandar Sunway yesterday. |
WHILE his teammates wound up their season with success in the Asian Championships in Japan, Josiah Ng is busy preparing for the August assignment in Beijing.
The squad for the Olympics, likely to comprise Azizul Hasni Awang, Rizal Tisin, Edrus Yunus and Josiah, unless Junaidi Nasir is brought along as cover for the team sprint, will set base in France from June to prepare for the Games.
“It will be winter in Melbourne (the squad’s official training base), and not many competitions. So, we’re going to set up base in Hyeres (France),” said Josiah yesterday.
The team sprint squad is 10th in the world rankings and only await an official confirmation by the International Cycling Union (UCI) on Olympic qualifiers tomorrow.
Josiah has qualified for the keirin alongside Asian champion Azizul, while the latter has also made the cut for the 200m sprint.
“We’re stepping it up. The progression is slow, but we’re getting there,” said Josiah, after handing over a US$10,000 (RM32,000) cheque to Shelter Home 1 as part of a charity effort with his main sponsors Fedex in Bandar Sunway yesterday.
“We will need competitions in order to prepare for the Olympics and there will be some grand prix circuits in Europe which would be ideal.”
Josiah leaves for Melbourne today and awaits the rest of the squad who will join him after the Asian Championships conclude today.
Source: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/Sport/2212089/Article/index_html
Josiah and co to set up base in Hyeres
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian track cycling squad plan to set up base in Hyeres, France, in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics in August.
Top Malaysian track cyclist Josiah Ng said the plan was for the whole sprint team to go to France for the training camp between June and July as they gear up to make their debut in the Olympics.
Hyeres has a cycling stadium, which is used by some of Europe’s top cyclists for their summer training camps.
“We are unable to train at our usual training base in Melbourne because it will be winter at that time,” said Josiah, a two-time World Cup overall winner and Asian Games silver medallist.
“We also plan to do a few races around Europe. It will be nothing but just steady training towards the Olympics after this.”
The 28-year-old made it to the top-six final in his pet keirin event in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Josiah has earned a second chance to challenge for a medal in Beijing in the individual keirin and is set to lead the men’s sprint trio in their first-ever appearance in the Olympics.
The other members of the sprint cycling team are Muhd Edrus Yunus, Azizul Hasni Awang and Junaidi Nasir.
Rizal Tisin, who is a 1km time trial specialist, is slated to be the reserve member of the sprint team. “We have never qualified the team before and I am proud that we have reached this objective.
“We have a very promising group of cyclists and they are currently making Malaysian cycling proud,” Josiah said, referring to Azizul’s success in retaining his keirin title in the Asian Championships in Nara, Japan, on Friday.
Josiah, who skipped the Asian meet, is back on a short break before resuming his training under Australian coach John Beasley.
Josiah presented a donation of US$10,000 on behalf of Federal Express (FedEx) to the Shelter Home at a function in Sunway Lagoon yesterday.
FedEx has been supporting the Shelter Home since 2005 and Josiah is their sports ambassador for Asia Pacific.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2008/4/13/sports/20939798&sec=sports
This Time It Is For Real, Says Josiah
PETALING JAYA, April 12 (Bernama) — National track cyclist, Josiah Ng is hoping for the best at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, which will be his second appearence at the Games after Athens in 2004.
“The first Olympic, I didn’t really know what to expect and that was just for the experience. But now, I am better prepared for it.
“I am going all out this time. I want to win a medal. That’s the biggest goal of my whole career. I have to be on track and be very focused. Not letting outside pressure get to me and be injury free,” said Josiah when met by reporters at the FedEx Express Fun Day at Sunway Lagoon here today.
Josiah is the Malaysian member of “Team FedEx”, a FedEx-sponsored programme comprising athletes and national teams from the company’s key markets in the Pacific region.
At the function, FedEx, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp and the world largest express transportation company, contributed US$10,000 to the children of the Shelter Home One for their education programme.
Josiah and Azizul Hasni Awang lead the pack of Olympic-bound cyclists in three events — the keirin, 200m sprint and team sprint. He and Azizul are 11th and 22nd in the world keirin rankings respectively.
The duo, along with the sprint team combination of Edrus Yunus, Junaidi Nasir and Rizal Tisin will carry Malaysia’s hope at Beijing.
As for the Olympic Games preparation, Josiah said: “So far, it is going well. We (the national cycling contingent) are making slow but steady progress and have three months to fine tune a few things.
He added that the Olympic-bound cyclists will be continuing their training in Melbourne and in June or July they will train in Hyeres, France before competing in the Olympic Gamesm in August.
Source: http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_sports.php?id=326408
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