SEA GAMES: CALVIN SIM WINS SINGAPORE’S FIRST MALE CYCLING GOLD SINCE 1997

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Cyclist Calvin Sim stepped up with a stunning victory in the SEA Games, in the process becoming Singapore’s first ever Gold Medal winner in the male cycling event since the 1997 Jakarta Games, when Bernard Wong won the point race. The last cycling gold in the SEA Games won by a Singaporean was by Dinah Chan who won the individual time trial event at the 2013 edition in Myanmar.

This was also Singapore’s only gold medal in Day 10 of the SEA Games. The 27 year old Calvin, triumphed in the men’s omnium, scoring a total of 140 points to finish first in the 11-strong field, ahead of Malaysia’s Sofian Nabil Omar (136) and Indonesian Nandra Eko Wahyudi (135).

The omnium is a category of track cycling involving several events in which participants are awarded points for each event and the overall winner is the rider who has garnered the highest total of points. The four events are scratch (all riders start together and the first is awarded 40 points, second 38 and so on), tempo (riders collect points depending on their position after a certain number of laps), elimination (riders are eliminated one by one and points awarded accordingly) and the final points race (similar to the tempo segment).

Mike Chan

A.S.S. Contributor