Yousif Mirza achieves historic success at the Asian Track Championships

Yousif had a gold medal around his neck and a look of sheer pride on his face for the important goal he had just achieved: Yousif Mirza, athlete from the United Arab Emirates who rides for UAE Team Emirates, captured the continental title in the points race at the Asian track cycling Championships.
It’s the first gold medal won by the United Arab Emirates in an international track cycling series.

At the Nilai velodrome (Malaysia), Mirza earned 55 points to beat Cheung (Hong Kong, 43 points) and Khalmuratov (Uzbekistan, 35 points).

The UAE Team Emirates’ rider achieved this success just 24 hours after taking the silver medal in the omnium event, a mere 5 points from the winner, Hashimoto (Japan).

Here’s what Mirza had to say: “I’ve reached an exceptional milestone; for me it’s payoff for all the work and sacrifice I’ve put in on the seat of my bike since I was a kid.

It’s hard to describe how proud I am right now: on Sunday I was already very happy for the fantastic second place I earned in the omnium, but my mind was on to the next thing, concentrating on the points race; I wanted to enjoy the feeling of a gold medal, like the one I won recently in the Continental road racing Championships.
Today I felt really strong and I was able to achieve the best result.

I am breaking new boundaries for cycling in the United Arab Emirates. This is the first gold for my country in an international track cycling series. I hope it will turn out to be a starting point that inspires lots of kids to love cycling and take up the sport.

These results mean even more to my country now, since they come in the year of Zayed.”