BMX cylist happy with fourth finish in KL SEA Games
KUCHING: Fresh from her first international outing, Ariana Nurminda Arifin, who is Sarawak’s first BMX cylist to make it to the SEA Games, is satisfied with her 4th placing despite her missing out on the podium finish.
Ranked national number one at one time, Ariana, who was a former track-and-field athlete who made the switch to cycling about a year ago, said she was targeting a top five finish.
Trained under Sarawak head coach, Leon Schepers, Ariana, who returned to Kuching a few days ago, said her training under the national coach was satisfactory as she had ample time to prepare while there are facilities such as a BMX track to train on.
In Kuching, the BMX track is not available as it needs renovation to make it up to par with competition standard.
“Competing in the SEA Games was quite an experience for me for it was the first time I competed at international level.
“Although I did not end up in the podium, my fourth placing was ok as my target for
the SEA Games was to finish in the top five.
After the SEA Games, Ariana is hungry for more SEA Games to come as she now concentrates on the next target – Sukma 2018 held in Perak.
In the last Sukma held in Kuching, Ariana, in her debut outing did creditably well to be in the final but was unfortunate to have crashed during the race.
“My target for the next Sukma is a podium finish as it will be my last Sukma,” said Ariana who trains at the track behind the Sarawak Stadium, here.
Ariana, who is the only cyclist to represent the state, was among 52 athletes competing in the SEA Games held in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 19 to 30.
The next SEA Games will be in Manila, Philippines in 2019.
