Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had expressed his support in seeing an indoor velodrome built so that local track cyclists could ride on the international success of athletes such as Olympics keirin finalist Azizulhasni Awang.”The prime minister was very keen on the idea when I brought it up at a recent cabinet meeting. And it’s something that we badly need,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday. He said most athletes now received their training overseas due to the lack of proper training facilities here, with national track cyclists currently based in Melbourne, Australia.

A world-class velodrome, Ahmad Shabery said, could boost track cycling as a sport in Malaysia the way it has in other countries such as Great Britain, which took home 12 cycling medals at the recent Olympics.

“If you look at the British experience, a lot of their success came after they built the Olympic-standard velodrome in Manchester.

“Malaysia already has a lot of support for road cycling through events such as the Le Tour de Langkawi. It’s now time to boost track cycling as a sport,” he said.

Continue reading on NST