In a thrilling race which ended in a photo finish, Esow Alban scripted history with India’s first-ever medal at a Cycling World Championships event, even as he missed the gold by mere 0.017 seconds.
It was a bittersweet moment for the teenager from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, who is the Junior world No 1. He won the silver medal in the men’s Keirin event on the second day of the Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Switzerland. But he fell agonisingly short of gold as Czech Jakub Stastny crossed the finish line first. In the first round, he had topped his heats with a 200m time of 10.851 seconds.
“I just wanted to stay at the front and avoid getting involved in any crashes. I believed I could win but I am still happy… well a little bit happy,” he said after the historic medal.
Esow “created somewhat of a sensation” said the official website, as he gave a tough fight to the leader, staying on his tail throughout the closing lap. He had fallen behind briefly but powered ahead with a superb surge. In the closing seconds, he came close to snatching the lead and but just didn’t have the pace in the final few metres to overtake Stastny. It was a matter of heart-stopping milliseconds, as the photo shows, but even with the silver, he has created history for India.
Esow is one of India’s most promising rising stars in cycling. Earlier this year, he was crowned the Asian Junior champion, another first for India. He won three gold medals at the 25th Junior Asian Track Cycling Championships in Malaysia – two individual medals in Keirin and Sprint and a team one with Mayur Pawar and James Singh.
Esow trains in Delhi at the Sports Authority of India’s National Cycling Academy.
You can watch the full race here , fast forward to 2:27:36:
