Nur Aisyah is Malaysia's First Female Cyclist to Compete in 2024 Paris Olympics
Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir, a renowned road racer from Malaysia, has been selected by the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) to represent the country at the 2024 Paris Olympics, making history as the first female cyclist to do so.
During a special meeting held at the National Velodrome, Nur Aisyah, 26, was chosen based on her ranking and consistent performance, according to MNCF Road Racing committee head Norazman Abu Samah.
“She (Nur Aisyah) is the country’s most consistent rider and we (MNCF) hope she will live up to our hope. We also hope that under the guidance of coach Amir Mustafa Rusli who has seen action during the 2012 London Olympics, Nur Aisyah will be able to deliver good results.
“Apart from Nur Aisyah, we will also submit a list riders, including Phi Kun Pan (winner of the gold medal at the Asian Under-23 Women’s Championship), to prepare for the Olympics in Paris. This is like a dream come true for us when informed about the slot being awarded to the country,” he told reporters.
Norazman expressed his hope that the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Youth and Sports Ministry would provide significant support to the MNCF's Olympic preparations, particularly in launching a comprehensive training programme for Nur Aisyah and sending the cyclist for exposure in Europe.
At the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games last year, Terengganu's Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir took home silver in the individual and team road race events and bronze in the criterium. This year, in May, she won bronze in the individual mass start and criterium events at the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games.
Nur Aisyah finished in the top ten at the Tour of Biwase Vietnam in 2023 and the Tour of Thailand in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games were held in China from September 23 to October 8. She also placed eleventh in the mass start event.
Nur Aisyah was chosen at a meeting attended by representatives from the NSC and state associations, according to Norazman. The other riders that were considered by the MNCF for the spot were Siti Nur Adibah Akma Mohd Fuad, Kun Pan, and Yeong Zhen Yi.
According to Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill, a member of the UCI Management Committee, Malaysia was given the slot because it is the second-ranked Asian country and one of the nations that did not earn a spot in the Olympics through the Asia Road Racing Championships that were held in Thailand last June.
In 2012, at the London Olympics, Muhammad Adiq Hussainie Othman and Amir Mustafa were the only Malaysian cyclists to appear in the Olympic road racing programme.