11:40 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 2, 2008By MIRJAM SWANSON
The Press-Enterprise
The kid just didn’t get it.
He’d sneak out on Saturdays to race his bike, disobeying his family’s strict Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. He’d spend most of his time at friends’ houses. He didn’t take his schoolwork at Redlands High seriously enough.
And he just didn’t listen.
Janet Ng can’t recall how many times she lectured Josiah, the eldest of three children in a medically inclined immigrant family from Malaysia. Time after time, she’d warn him that the future he was carving out for himself wasn’t acceptable.
“Josiah,” she’d say, “it’s going to be really hard to put a roof over your head with cycling.”
But Josiah Ng wouldn’t budge.
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Special to The Press-Enterprise
Josiah Ng’s image is plastered on commuter trains in his family’s native country, Malaysia, where he’s a celebrated athlete.
And it wasn’t just his parents who felt the urge to dissuade him. Other boys taunted the small cyclist, sneering, “What? Are you gonna go pro, Josiah?”
And still, Josiah Ng never wavered.
Cliff Hammer, the father of U. S. Olympian Sarah Hammer and a longtime supporter, likened the world-class determination of the young Loma Linda rider to that of Thomas Edison, who once told somebody, “I didn’t fail, I found 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb. I only need to find one way to make it work.”
“He always had the vision,” Cliff Hammer said. “And he wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way.”
Josiah Ng, it turned out, absolutely got it.
Seeing is Believing
Ng — whose name is pronounced “ing” — says there are three “visions” he’s wanted to fulfill since his youth.
No. 1: He wanted to race at an Olympics.
He’s headed to his second. At the Athens Games four years ago, Ng finished fifth in the keirin, his specialty, missing a medal in the dangerous, adrenaline-charged track cycling event by a flash.
No. 2: He wanted to be able to say he’d raced professionally in Japan, where keirin is biggest. He did, and did so well he used his winnings to buy a condo in Torrance, sort of an I-told-you-so to his now-proud mom.
“He always told me he would prove me wrong,” Janet Ng said. “I really thank God that He has given Josiah that kind of motivation.”
No. 3: He wanted to be an Olympic flag-bearer.
Ng, 28, is the likely candidate to lead the 30-some Malaysian athletes into Beijing’s National Stadium during the opening ceremonies Aug. 8.
“That’s gonna be a big deal,” Ng said recently by phone from Torrance, a day before he left for Australia, where he trains with his trade team and fellow Malaysian riders.
“All of the eyes in the world would be on me for that instant. And you know they always zoom in on the flag bearer and say a sentence or two: ‘He was the best Malaysian finisher at the last Olympics, he grew up cycling in the U. S. …’ “
Star Power
Fortunately for him, Ng is comfortable with the attention, because more and more of it is coming his way.
Since 2004, when he was chosen as Malaysia’s sportsman of the year, his name has been automatically identifiable in the country. Now, with his image plastered on commuter trains and magazine covers, he is becoming more recognizable, too.
“Being somewhat ‘Americanized,’ he doesn’t really care what people think of him, or if people know it’s him when he’s in Malaysia,” wrote Kim Ong, Ng’s fianceé, in an e-mail. “He’s just him, and he likes doing what he likes.”
Ong also is well-known in Malaysia, where her popular blog has made her an Internet celebrity. It was the ‘net that brought the two together.
“I picked up a copy of The (Malaysian) Sun featuring Josiah on it and wondered who this hunk was,” Ong said, recalling the big FedEx ad she spotted.
Said Ng: “She didn’t know much about sports so she Googled me. She’s pretty handy on the computer, after all.”
Remembered Ong: “I found his Web site and decided to drop him a ‘good luck’ comment on his guestbook.”
Ng: “So I linked to her blog and thought, ‘What a cute girl!’ Then I responded, and we sent a few e-mails and text messages, had a few phone conversations, and then some three-hour daily phone conversations …”
Ong: “One thing led to another and we found ourselves eventually meeting up. The rest is history. We never looked back. He never hesitated.”
Hooked on Keirin
If there’s an event on the planet that forbids hesitation, it’s Ng’s keirin, which has been an Olympic sport since 2000.
At the Games, it’s an eight-lap, six-rider race. Competitors trail a pacer whose speed gradually increases from 15 mph to 30. Then, with about 700 meters to go, the pacer leaves the track and all heck breaks loose as competitors fight to be the first one across the finish line.
Or, as Ng describes it: “It’s like roller derby with bikes. It’s Santa Anita racetrack with bikes. It’s short-track speedskating with bikes. It’s anything can happen.”
It’s the race that suited Ng immediately.
As a junior rider, he found that he excelled at the criteriums, road cycling’s shorter, snappy, multi-lap races.
Then, when he found his way to the track, Ng found himself gravitating toward the shorter, more tactical races until he found the most tactical of them.
“I was hooked; it was like a self-propelled roller coaster,” Ng said.
And he was good at it.
“Josiah has always been a very controlled sprinter,” said Redlands’ Johnny Bairos, an Olympian who introduced Ng to track cycling in 1996.
“He knows exactly what he’s going to do and why he’s going to do it, and then he only makes moves he needs to make to gain an advantage. There are guys who like to fight for fighting’s sake, but Josiah does everything for winning’s sake.”
For all of his insatiable desire and natural affinity for the keirin, Ng also benefited from the discipline and healthy vegetarian eating habits instilled by his parents, who have become big fans. Josiah’s father, Dr. Andy Ng, even bikes now.
Andy and Janet will be in Beijing with their other two children, who are studying medicine and nursing, to watch the family cyclist go for gold on Aug. 15 and 16.
Ng’s got a good shot. He was the world’s top-ranked keirin racer from 2002 to 2003 and then again from 2005 to 2006, and he’s an eight-time World Cup medalist. All that success has spawned a growing generation of track cyclists in Malaysia, including 19-year-old Azizul Hasni Awang, a fellow keirin contender.
Malaysia has announced that it will pay RM 1 million — or about $300,000 — to its first athlete to take gold.
“That’s exciting news, but to be honest with you, that doesn’t change anything,” said Ng, who gets support from the Malaysian government and from sponsors such as Nike.
“The gold is just as attractive with or without the incentive. I’ve already dedicated my life to achieving the highest honors at the Olympic Games. The money would just be icing on the cake.”
Indeed, marveled Andy Ng, when considering his son’s passion for the sport that’s made him a star in their native land.
“He’d do it even if he wasn’t paid,” Andy Ng said. “He’s always just loved it.”
MEET JOSIAH NG
Who is he: Malaysian track cyclist
High School: Redlands High
Age: 28
Events: Keirin, team sprint
Career highlights: Fifth place at 2004 Olympics; ranked No. 1 in world at keirin in 2002-03, 2005-06; eight-time World Cup medalist.
Did you know: Malaysia will pay its first Olympic gold medalist a RM 1 million (about $300,000) bonus.
Source: http://www.pe.com/sports/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_S_oly_cycling_03.475c00f.html
