Cyclist Lee Wai-sze crowned World Cup sprint champion
Olympic heroine cements her status as one of the world's best after clinching title in Mexico
Hong Kong Olympic heroine Sarah Lee Wai-sze added another notable achievement to her résumé yesterday when she was crowned World Cup sprint champion.
Lee finished third in the third and final leg of the World Cup series in Aguascalientes, Mexico, yesterday. The 25-year-old had won the opening leg in Cali, Colombia, in October and finished fourth in the second leg in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.
"This is the first time a Hong Kong rider has ever won the World Cup overall title," said coach Shen Jinkang, who accompanied his charge on the long journey to Mexico. "Lee has proved she can compete against any top rider in the sprinting event."
Lee collected a total of 27 points after the three rounds, followed by two British riders, Jessica Varnish and Rebecca James, both on 18. The two Britons did not attend the race in Mexico, which was won by Gong Jinjie of China, who lifted her first World Cup title after defeating Lisandra Guerra of Cuba in the final. Lee lost to the Cuban in her semi-finals before beating Kaarle McCulloch of Australia in the bronze-medal race-off.
All the top sprinters will meet again soon in the most important race of the year, the world championships in Minsk, Ukraine, next month.
But today they will compete in the keirin, the event in which Lee won bronze at the London Olympics last summer. Gong, a trainee at UCI's World Cycling Centre in Aigle, will be the main threat to Lee in the absence of mainlander Guo Shuang, the London Games silver medallist in the keirin.
At the new velodrome in Aguascalientes, Zhong Tianshi set a new women's world record in the 200 metres flying start (trial for the sprint) in 10.573 seconds, which, lowered the 10.643 mark set by Germany's Miriam Welte last June.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong men's madison team of Cheung King-lok and Leung Chun-wing will also feature on the final day.
Newcomer Leung, the junior points race world champion last year, faces a daunting task in his first year against the seniors. He started well in Aguascalientes in the men's 4,000-metre team, finishing eighth in 4:10.895
In the men's omnium, Kwok Ho-ting, Hong Kong's top rider after the retirement of Wong Kam-po, finished ninth out of 22 riders in the six-discipline competition, while Jamie Wong Wan-yiu came 10th in the women's points race and 15th in the 3,000-metre individual pursuit.
