Youth Olympic Cycling: Nasthasia Nadiah finishes 22nd in Cross Country

Story by Mai A Malek/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Tampines Bike Park, Tuesday August 17, 2010 – In the first-ever Youth Olympic Junior Women’s Cross-Country final, Singapore cyclist Nur Nasthasia Nadiah Abdul Nazzeer came in 22nd out of the 32 riders lined up for the race.

The only female representative for Singapore concluded her race after completing three out of the five race laps, as Czech Republic’s rider Karolina Kalasova cruised past the finish line with a time of 46 minutes 58 seconds. Linda Indergand from Switzerland trailed in eight seconds later while Canadian Kristina Laforge managed to steal a podium spot with a time of 49:22.

Despite falling short of her four successive laps during the Singapore Mountain Bike carnival held in earlier in May, the ITE College (East) student felt that her performance was much better this time. Nasthasia was all smiles and had a chat with a Serbian rider next to her as the riders took their positions at the start line.

The start of the race saw Belgian rider Tori van de Perre zooming ahead with Chilean Laura Munizaga Holloway following close behind. But the race leaders soon fell back as Swiss rider Linda climbed her way swiftly up the Hamburger Hill and led the race from there.

What seemed like an obvious gold medal for the Swiss rider proved to be otherwise when Czech Republic’s Karolina overtook her at the final lap. Karolina never looked back as she approached the homestretch with a lead, leaving Linda to settle with silver.

“It was no doubt a very challenging race,” said the 18-year-old. “There are a lot of climbing parts, and climbing has never been my forte,” she added. “But I am really sure that I did my very best and I must add that this was a much better performance as compared to the MTB carnival. It was so exciting!”

Nasthasia also let in that she felt a little sad not being able to enjoy the Hari Raya atmosphere since she has been tied down with races and trainings. Nevertheless, the bubbly rider still is looking forward to her upcoming BMX race and time trial.

In the Junior Men’s Cross Country final, Singapore’s Daniel Koh managed to complete three out of seven laps, finishing in 30th position out of a field of 32 competitors. Columbia’s Jhonnatan Botero clinched the gold medal with a time of 58:42, while Andrea Righettini from Italy brought home the silver. Belgium’s Laurens Sweeck rounded up the top three for the event.

Nasthasia will next compete amongst 32 riders for a place in the BMX semi-final that will take place at the Tampines Bike Park this Thursday, August 19th.